TODAY IN HISTORY: Morin acquitted

In 1831, the Lower Canada Assembly voted to extend legal rights to Jews.

In 1834, a fire destroyed the Chateau Saint-Louis in Quebec City. The Chateau was home to the governors of New France since being built by Samuel de Champlain.

In 1845, the U.S. Congress decided all national elections would be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

In 1849, Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman to receive a medical degree. The British native was awarded the degree by the Medical Institution Geneva, N.Y.

In 1863, the Toronto Stock Exchange began daily trading sessions.

In 1888, natural gas was found at Kingsville, Ont., near Windsor.

In 1909, radio was first used to save lives at sea. A distress signal brought help when the “Republic” rammed and sank the “Florida” off the New England coast.

In 1920, the Dutch government refused Allied demands that Wilhelm II, Germany’s former kaiser, be handed over so he could be tried as a war criminal.

In 1922, in Toronto, 14-year-old Leonard Thompson became the first diabetic to receive an insulin injection. Frederick Banting and J.J.R. MacLeod of the University of Toronto shared the next year’s Nobel Prize for Medicine for the discovery of the treatment.

In 1941, Franz Von Werra became the only German prisoner of war to escape in Canada. Enroute to a northern Ontario prison camp, he escaped from a train near Prescott, Ont., and made it into the United States in a stolen rowboat. When he got back to Germany, Hitler awarded him the Iron Cross. Von Werra was later killed in action.

In 1949, fire destroyed much of Regina’s public transit system. Thirty-eight buses and streetcars were destroyed in the fire at the city’s transit barns.

In 1950, the Israeli Knesset approved a resolution affirming Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

In 1972, the Soviet consulate in Montreal was slightly damaged when four firebombs were thrown at the building.

In 1973, an accord was reached to end the Vietnam War. A few days later, a ceasefire was signed by the United States, North and South Vietnam and the Viet Cong but it was never implemented. Heavy fighting continued for two years until the North Vietnamese army captured the entire country. Canada accepted more than 100,000 Vietnamese refugees.

In 1976, “Donny and Marie” premiered on ABC. It was the first variety show hosted by a brother and sister team, Donny and Marie Osmond. It lasted 78 episodes. Notable guest stars included Merle Haggard, Engelbert Humperdinck, Tina Turner, Olivia Newton John, Sonny & Cher, Andy Gibb, Rip Taylor, and Farrah Fawcett.

In 1978, Terry Kath, vocalist and guitarist with “Chicago,” accidentally killed himself while playing with a loaded gun. He was 31.

In 1985, proceedings of the British House of Lords were televised for the first time.

In 1986, 10 performers, including Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley and Fats Domino, were the first inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Other performers honoured at the ceremony in New York were Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Buddy Holly, Little Richard, James Brown, The Everly Brothers and Jerry Lee Lewis.

In 1992, the Supreme Court said Ottawa could conduct environmental reviews on any project that had an environmental impact on any aspect of federal jurisdiction.

In 1995, Defence Minister David Collenette announced the disbanding of the Canadian Airborne Regiment. The regiment was rocked by several courts martial in the death of a Somali teen during a UN mission, charges of racism and accusations of illegal hazing rituals. It was the first time a Canadian regiment had been disbanded in such disgrace.

In 1995, after a 10-year battle, Guy Paul Morin was acquitted of the 1984 sex-slaying of his nineyear-old neighbour, Christine Jessop of Queensville, Ont. The Ontario Court of Appeal cleared Morin on the basis of new DNA evidence. He was acquitted at his first trial, but a Crown appeal led to a retrial and conviction. Following an Ontario government inquiry, the province awarded Morin and his parents $1.25 million in compensation in 1997.

In 1998, the Royal Bank of Canada and the Bank of Montreal announced they planned to merge. A similar announcement came three months later from the Toronto Dominion Bank and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. But the federal government rejected both mergers the following December, citing competition concerns.

In 2001, Quebec Premier Bernard Landry referred to the Canadian flag as “a piece of red rag.” He was responding to a federal offer of $18 million in renovation funding for a Quebec City zoo on condition that it include English signs and the Canadian flag.

In 2002, Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was abducted in Karachi, Pakistan, by a group demanding the return of prisoners from the Afghan campaign. He was later murdered.

In 2003, McDonald’s reported its first quarterly loss ever, a US$345 million deficit and said it planned to close 719 under-performing restaurants, mostly in Japan and the United States.

In 2014, 19-year-old Canadian pop star Justin Bieber was arrested after police say he drag raced on a Miami Beach residential street in a yellow Lamborghini. His charges included DUI, driving with an expired license and resisting arrest without violence. The “One Less Lonely Girl” singer reached a plea deal of misdemeanour careless driving and resisting arrest without violence. He agreed to take an anger management course and make a US$50,000 charitable donation.