TODAY IN HISTORY: Star Wars film goes galactic
In B.C., the first known prediction of a solar eclipse occurred.
In 1085, Alfonso VI of Castile captured Toledo, Spain, and brought the Moorish centre of science into Christian hands.
In 1521, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V pronounced Protestant Reformation leader Martin Luther an outlaw and heretic for refusing to recant his teachings while at the Diet of Worms (held the previous month).
In 1792, a highwayman named Pelletier became the first person under French law to be executed by the guillotine.
In 1793, 25-year-old Stephen T. Badin was ordained in Baltimore, Md. He was the first Roman Catholic priest to be ordained in the newly independent United States. He later served as a frontier missionary, and played a key role in establishing Catholicism in Kentucky, Indiana and Tennessee during the early nineteenth century.
In 1810, Argentina began its revolt against Spain.
In 1859, ground was broken for the Suez Canal. It was completed 10 years later.
In 1876, the Reformed Presbyterian
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Church of Scotland united with the Free Church of Scotland to form the new Free Church of Scotland.
In 1879, British publisher and politician Lord Beaverbrook was born William Maxwell Aitken in Maple, Ont.
In 1882, the Royal Society of Canada was founded to promote the development of the country’s arts and sciences.
In 1889, aviation designer Igor Sikorsky was born in Kiev in what is now Ukraine. After designing the world’s first successful multi-motor airplane, Sikorsky developed the first true production helicopter. The chopper first flew in 1939.
In 1895, Irish playwright Oscar Wilde was convicted in London on a morals charge for his involvement with another man. Wilde was sentenced to two years in prison.
In 1935, future Olympic champion Jesse Owens broke five world track and field records and equalled a sixth – in a mere 45 minutes– at a U.S. college meet in Ann Arbor, Michigan. His long jump mark was not broken for 25 years.
In 1935, Babe Ruth of the National League’s Boston Braves hit his final three home runs, bringing his career total to 714. Atlanta’s Hank Aaron broke Ruth’s record in 1974 and in 2007, Barry Bonds surpassed Aaron with his 756th career home run. (Bonds finished his career with 762.)
In 1940, women in Quebec were given the right to vote.
In 1945, delegates from 45 countries met in San Francisco to organize the United Nations.
In 1950, the federal and provincial governments agreed to build the TransCanada Highway. It was completed 12 years later.
In 1958, Canada’s first direct-distance dialling system was installed in Toronto. In 1959, the St. Lawrence Seaway opened to shipping.
In 1967, the Canadian Armed Forces came into being with the merger of the army, navy and air force.
In 1977, the first “Star Wars” film was released in the U.S. by 20th Century Fox. (It was released in Canada on June 24.)
In 1979, 273 people died when an American Airlines DC-10 crashed on takeoff from Chicago’s O’Hare airport.