TODAY IN HISTORY Treaty of Versailles
In 1645, William Laud, archbishop of Canterbury and a persecutor of the Puritans during the reign of King Charles I, was executed in the Tower of London for treason.
In 1810, Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, divorced his wife, Josephine.
In 1863, the London Underground, the oldest subway system in the world, opened. The first trains — using steam locomotives that burned coke and later coal — began running from Paddington to Farringdon in the City of London, totalling seven stops over 6.4 kilometres.
In 1901, a gusher at Beaumont, Texas, started the great Texas oil boom.
In 1920, the “Treaty of Versailles,” ending the First World War, took effect. The Treaty also established the League of Nations, at which Canada and the other British Dominions could speak for themselves on international affairs. The U.S. never joined the League, which was replaced after the Second World War by the United Nations.
In 1967, Massachusetts Republican Edward W. Brooke, the first black elected to the U.S. Senate by popular vote, took his seat.
In 1994, U.S. President Bill Clinton announced at a NATO meeting in Brussels that Ukraine, the world's third most powerful nuclear-armed state, was set to give up its warheads and intercontinental missiles in a three-way deal with the United States and Russia.
In 2007, U.S. President George W. Bush acknowledged that his strategy in Iraq had not been working as he announced a new plan to deploy another 20,000 American soldiers and spend billions more dollars.
In 2019, Liberal MP Scott Brison announced he was quitting the political career he loved to spend more time with his husband and twin girls. After 22 years representing the Nova Scotia riding of Kings-Hants — initially as a Progressive Conservative MP before jumping to the Liberals in 2003 — Brison said it was time for a change and he would not be seeking re-election. Brison also stepped down as president of the Treasury Board.
In 2020, Neil Peart, drummer and lyricist for Canada’s iconic band Rush, died at the age of 67. His solo on “Tom Sawyer” is one of the greatest in rock ‘n’ roll history.