TODAY IN HISTORY: Quebecers reject separation
In 325, the first Christian ecumenical council opened at Nicea in Asia Minor. The doctrine of Jesus Christ's divinity was formally affirmed for the first time by the council.
In 1506, explorer Christopher Columbus died in poverty in Valladolid, in northwest Spain. He had just completed his book of biblical commentary, “The Prophecies,” when he died.
In 1536, Henry VIII and Jane Seymour were betrothed. She later became his third wife. Although Henry had six wives, only Seymour gave him a son, the future Edward VI. She died in 1537, just days after giving birth to Edward.
In 1859, George Barstow was elected mayor of Nanaimo. Only one vote was cast.
In 1902, the United States ended its occupation of Cuba.
In 1903, the first truck race was held in New York City. The race attracted seven heavy trucks and six delivery wagons.
In 1927, Charles Lindbergh took off from Roosevelt Field in Long Island, N.Y., aboard the Spirit of St. Louis on his historic solo flight to France.
In 1932, U.S. aviator Amelia Earhart set off on her solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, travelling from Newfoundland to Ireland.
In 1939, regular trans-Atlantic mail service began as a Pan American Airways plane, the "Yankee Clipper," took off from Port Washington, N.Y., bound for Marseille, France.
In 1946, a plane crashed into the 58th floor of the Empire State Building in New York.
In 1948, Canadian war ace Buzz Beurling was killed when his plane crashed during a flight to Rome. Beurling was one of Canada's greatest flying aces, shooting down 31 enemy aircraft during the Second World War.
In 1969, U.S. and South Vietnamese forces captured Ap Bia Mountain, referred to as "Hamburger Hill" by the Americans, following one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War.
In 1971, Francis Simard was sentenced to life imprisonment for the 1970 murder of Quebec Labour Minister Pierre Laporte.
In 1972, Richard Nixon became the first U.S. president to visit the Soviet Union.
In 1977, the original "Orient Express" luxury train began its final Paris-to-Istanbul trip after 94 years of service.
In 1979, the Winnipeg Jets won the last World Hockey Association championship, beating the visiting Edmonton Oilers 7-3 to take the series in six games. The Jets, Oilers, Quebec Nordiques and New England Whalers joined the NHL the following season.
In 1980, more than 58 per cent of Quebec voters rejected a referendum proposal that would have allowed Quebec to negotiate sovereignty-association with the rest of Canada.
In 1986, Sharon Wood and Dwayne Congdon — both of Canmore, Alta. — reached the top of Mount Everest. Wood was the first North American woman to reach the summit.
In 1991, the Soviet parliament approved a landmark bill that would allow its citizens to travel abroad and emigrate freely for the first time in more than 60 years.
In 1999, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Ontario's definition of "spouse" was unconstitutional because it applied to heterosexual couples only. On the same day, the court also quashed a section of the Indian Act which set residency requirements for voting in band elections.
In 2003, Canada's beef industry was plunged into crisis when it was revealed a cow slaughtered that January had mad cow disease.
In 2009, Michael Thomas Rafferty, 28, of Woodstock, Ont., and Terri-Lynne McClintic, 18, were arrested and charged in the abduction and murder of eight-year-old Victoria “Tori” Stafford.