TODAY IN HISTORY: Tom Petty dies

In 322 BC, Greek philosopher Aristotle died. In 1535, French explorer Jacques Cartier explored the St. Lawrence River to Hochelaga, present site of Montreal.

In 1608, the first telescope was demonstrated by Hans Lippershey of Middelburg, Holland. In 1758, the first elected assembly in Canada met at Halifax. Charles Lawrence, then governor of Nova Scotia, wanted to encourage immigration but critics argued that New Englanders would hesitate to immigrate unless guaranteed an assembly that would give them a say in the governing process and protect their rights.

In 1780, Maj. John Andre was hanged as a British spy by George Washington during the Revolutionary War.

In 1804, England mobilized to resist possible invasion by Napoleon’s French army.

In 1847, telegraph service opened between Montreal and Quebec City.

In 1871, American Mormon leader Brigham Young was arrested for “cohabitating” with 16 young women.

In 1883, a women’s medical college was founded at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont., by Dr. Jennie Trout, the first Canadian woman to be licensed to practise medicine in Canada.

In 1895, much of Canada’s Far North was formed into the provisional districts of Mackenzie, Yukon, Ungava and Franklin. Yukon became a territory in 1897. The remaining area was divided in 1918 into the districts of Mackenzie, Keewatin and Franklin, now the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. In 1920, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cincinnati Reds played major league baseball’s last triple header. Cincinnati won the first two games 13-7 and 7-3. Pittsburgh was leading the third 6-0 when darkness set in. In 1940, “The Empress of Britain,” en route to Canada with child evacuees, was sunk by a German submarine, but British warships rescued most of the 634 crew and passengers. “The Empress,” which had been converted into a troop ship during the Second World War, was the largest liner sunk during the conflict.

In 1944, Nazi troops crushed the twomonth-old “Warsaw Uprising,” during which a quarter of a million people were killed.

In 1950, “Peanuts” — Charles M. Schulz’s cartoon strip featuring Charlie Brown — first appeared. It was to have been called “L’il Folks,” but the syndication agency United Features insisted it be changed to the name by which it became known worldwide.

In 1955, the Canadian Unemployment Act went into effect.

In 1958, the African country of Guinea was proclaimed a republic independent from France. European traders first came to the Guinean coast in the 15th century and France originally began proclaimed an area as its protectorate in 1849. In 1967, San Francisco police narcotics agents raided the communal house of the “Grateful Dead” at 710 Ashbury Street. Group members Ron “Pigpen” McKernan and Bob Weir and nine others were arrested. It was reported that police had no warrants and entered by breaking down the door.

In 1985, a joint American-French expedition announced it had found the wreckage of the “Titanic,” the British luxury liner that hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage and sank in the North Atlantic on April 14, 1912, with the loss of 1,513 lives.

In 1986, the 1981 recording of “At This Moment” by Billy Vera and the Beaters received a new lease on life with its broadcast on an episode of the TV sitcom “Family Ties.” NBC received thousands of inquiries about the song, and when it was released, it went to the top of the charts. When originally released, it stalled at No. 79. After the single reached No. 1, Vera never hit the top 40 again.

In 1988, the Summer Olympic Games ended in Seoul. Canada finished 19th overall with 10 medals.

In 2003, a report by American chief weapons inspector David Kay said that after extensive searches, no weapons of mass destruction had been found in Iraq.

In 2003, the Liberal Party led by Dalton McGuinty won a sweeping majority in the Ontario election, ending eight years of Conservative rule. Liberals won 72 of 103 seats and PC 24.

In 2006, a 32-year-old milk truck driver took young girls hostage at an Amish community school in Lancaster, Pa., killing five before committing suicide. The schoolhouse was later razed.

In 2011, 92-year-old Andy Rooney ended his 33-year run on “60 Minutes” after delivering his 1,097th essay on the newsmagazine. (He died just over a month later on Nov. 4.)

In 2017, rock superstar Tom Petty, who wrote such classics such as “Free Fallin’,” “Refugee” and “American Girl,” died a day after he suffered cardiac arrest at his home in Malibu, Calif. He was 66.