TODAY IN HISTORY: The Dionne quintuplets
In 1533, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, declared the marriage of England’s King Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn valid.
In 1731, all Hebrew books in the Vatican controlled Papal States were confiscated.
In 1808, Canadian explorer Simon Fraser began a trip down the British Columbia river that would bear his name.
In 1898, the Shroud of Turin was photographed for the first time. Many believe the shroud shows the negative image of the crucified Jesus Christ.
In 1927, the Canadian Old Age Pension Plan was approved by the House of Commons. It was to be paid to those in need over the age of 70, in co-operation with participating provinces.
In 1929, the first all-colour talking picture, “On with the Show,” opened in New York.
In 1934, the Dionne quintuplets were born in Callander, Ont. Annette, Emilie, Yvonne, Cecile and Marie were the first quints to survive more than a few days. The Ontario government placed them in a specially-built hospital, where the children were put on public display. More than three million people came to watch them play behind a one-way screen. Their mother fought for nine years to regain custody, but the family reunion in 1943 was not successful. In 1998, the three surviving sisters and their families received $4 million compensation from the Ontario government for their childhood mistreatment.
In 1937, Neville Chamberlain became prime minister of Britain.
In 1954, U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a bill which added the words “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance.
In 1958, the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. merged with the Presbyterian Church of North America to form the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. In 1959, American space officials recovered two monkeys who splashed down after a 2,700-km flight in the nose-cone of a Jupiter rocket.
In 1967, Englishman Francis Chichester completed the first solo, around-the-world boat voyage when he returned to Portsmouth, England.
In 1972, the Duke of Windsor — who had abdicated the British throne in 1936 to marry the woman he loved, American divorcee Wallis Simpson — died of cancer in Paris at age 77. In 1977, more than 160 people died when fire raced through the Beverly Hills Supper Club in Southgate, Ky.
In 1985, the Ontario NDP and Liberals signed a pact that ended the Conservatives’ 42-year reign and led to the resignation of Frank Miller as Tory leader. He was premier for only a few months.
In 1986, viewers participating in Dick Clark’s “America Picks the No. 1 Songs” chose Bill Haley’s “Rock Around the Clock,” “Simon and Garfunkel’s” “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and “All Night Long (All Night)” by Lionel Richie as the greatest hits of the rock era. Barbara Mandrell was the hostess of the show.
In 1987, Mathias Rust, a 19-year-old West German pilot, stunned the world as he landed a private plane in Moscow’s Red Square after evading Soviet air defences.
In 1995, Jacques Villeneuve became the first Canadian winner of the Indianapolis 500 auto race.
In 1998, Ontario-born actor Phil Hartman was found shot to death in his California home in a murder-suicide. His wife Brynn shot and killed herself as police were removing the couple’s two children from the home after reports of gunfire. Hartman, who was 49, was a regular on TV’s “The Simpsons” and “Saturday Night Live.” He also appeared in more than 20 movies.
In 2000, the remains of an unknown Canadian soldier were interred at the National War Memorial in Ottawa after being returned from Vimy Ridge, France.
In 2005, Justin Trudeau married Sophie Gregoire in Montreal.
In 2007, the Liberals won a stunning victory in the P.E.I. election, ending 11 years of Tory rule. Robert Ghiz — the son of former premier Joe Ghiz — and the Liberals took 23 seats, while the Tories won just four.
In 2010, Prime Minister Stephen Harper bestowed honorary Canadian citizenship upon the Aga Khan, a billionaire philanthropist and spiritual leader of 20 million Muslims worldwide.