TODAY IN HISTORY: Guns for Reba tickets
In 1882, A. A. Milne, the English author best known for his children’s classic “Winnie the Pooh,” was born. Milne, who served in both World Wars, died in 1956 at the age of 74 after suffering a stroke and brain injury which left him as an invalid for the final four years of his life.
In 1904, Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier delivered perhaps the most misquoted speech in Canadian history. Laurier told the Canadian Club of Ottawa the 19th century was the century of the United States, then added, “I think we can claim that it is Canada that shall fill the 20th century.” To this day, Laurier is often quoted — erroneously — as saying, “the 20th century belongs to Canada.”
In 1974, Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke of “Free,” Mick Ralphs from “Mott the Hoople” and Boz Burrell from “King Crimson” got together to form “Bad Company.” Their debut album, recorded in just 10 days, contained the No. 1 hit single in the UK “Can’t Get Enough.”
In 1982, the city of Los Angeles declared it was Bob and Doug McKenzie Day. The “SCTV” duo (played by Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis) had a brief fling with stardom in the U.S. via their “Great White North” LP and “Strange Brew” movie.
In 1984, fire swept through an undersea coal mine at Takada, Japan, killing at least 83 people.
In 1982, four Thunderbird jet aircraft collided in flight over Indian Springs, Nev., during a close-formation drill, killing all four pilots, It was the worst accident in the history of the U.S. Air Force’s precision flying team.
In 1985, Ontario Premier William Davis announced that a sports stadium with a retractable roof would be built in downtown Toronto at a cost of $150 million. The SkyDome, which opened in 1989, ended up costing $500 million. The stadium was renamed the Rogers Centre in 2005 after Rogers Communications Inc. acquired it for $25 million.
In 1994, country star Reba McEntire announced that anyone who turned in a gun in each city where she performed that year would get a free ticket to her show. That prompted a Tulsa, Okla., pawnshop owner to offer a 10-percent discount on a gun for anyone who brought in one of McEntire’s albums or concert tickets.
In 1996, Lisa Marie Presley filed for divorce from Michael Jackson. The marriage lasted 18 months. The two had married in a secret ceremony in the Dominican Republic in May 1994. The marriage was widely viewed as a bid by Jackson to boost his image following allegations of child molestation.
In 1996, major league baseball approved regular-season interleague play for the 1997 season, the first since 1900.
In 2003, tens of thousands of protesters demonstrated in Canadian cities and around the world against a possible U.S.-led war on Iraq.
In 2018, Bruce McArthur, a 66year-old self-employed landscaper, was arrested and charged with firstdegree murder in the presumed deaths of Selim Esen and Andrew Kinsman, who disappeared from Toronto’s gay village in 2017. (He was later charged with six more counts of first-degree murder after police discovered dismembered skeletal remains hidden at the bottom of large planters.)
In 2019, BuzzFeed reported that two unidentified law enforcement officials claimed U.S. President Donald Trump directed his personal attorney Michael Cohen to lie to Congress and that Cohen regularly briefed Trump and his family on the Trump Tower project in Moscow — even as Trump said he had no business dealings with Russia. BuzzFeed said Cohen told special counsel Robert Mueller that Trump personally instructed him to lie about the timing of the project in order to obscure Trump’s involvement.