The Maple Leaf Forever

In 325, the Council of Nicea closed. Regarded as the first ecumenical council, its 300 attending bishops drafted the Nicene Creed and fixed the formula for Easter Sunday.

In 1845, English explorer Sir John Franklin disappeared while on an expedition in the eastern Arctic trying to chart and navigate the Northwest Passage. It was later learned that Franklin's ships were frozen in ice west of King William Island. Franklin died June 11, 1847, and his 105 crew members perished while trekking southward.3

In 1874, “The Maple Leaf Forever,” one of Canada’s most famous patriotic songs, was said to have been performed for the first time during the laying of the foundation stone for the Christian Baptist Church in Newmarket, Ont. The song’s composer, Alexander Muir, conducted a choir of schoolchildren.

In 1980, AC/DC released “Back in Black,” their first album with singer Brian Johnson. It has sold over 45 million copies worldwide, second only to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”

In 1997, Larry Fisher was arrested in Calgary and charged with the first-degree murder and rape of Saskatoon nursing aide Gail Miller in January, 1969. Fisher was convicted in 1999 and sentenced to life. David Milgaard wrongfully spent 23 years in prison for the crime. (Fisher died in prison on June 9, 2015, at age 65.)

In 2008, the three-day inaugural Pemberton Music Festival featuring international acts such as Coldplay, Jay-Z, Tom Petty and Heartbreakers, opened in Pemberton.

In 2011, only three months after leading the NDP party to a historic electoral breakthrough, a frail, raspy-voiced Jack Layton, who had been battling prostate cancer, announced he was diagnosed with a new undisclosed form of cancer and would take a temporary leave of absence. The party accepted his recommendation and confirmed rookie Quebec MP Nycole Turmel as interim leader three days later. (Layton died on Aug. 22.)