TODAY IN HISTORY: Ill-fated Titanic takes to sea
In 1578, Italian archeologist Antonio Bosio became the first man in modern times to rediscover the Christian catacombs in Rome. Researchers who followed him dubbed Bosio “the Columbus of the Catacombs.”
In 1578, Martin Frobisher set sail from England, looking for a Northwest Passage to the Orient. He instead found the Hudson Strait. It was the explorer’s third and last voyage to Canada. He was later knighted for his role in fighting the Spanish Armada. He died at sea after being mortally wounded by the Spanish in 1594.
In 1665, Jerusalem’s rabbi Sjabtai Tswi proclaimed himself the Messiah.
In 1701, Alexander Cruden, compiler of a well-known concordance to the King James Version of the Bible, was born.
In 1793, an act making it possible for public servants to perform marriages was passed in Upper Canada.
In 1819, poet Walt Whitman was born in West Hills, N.Y.
In 1859, the “Big Ben” clock at the Houses of Parliament in London began ticking.
In 1889, more than 2,200 people died when a dam break sent a roof-top-high wave of water, mud, rocks and other debris crashing into Johnstown, Penn.
In 1911, the British liner “RMS Titanic” was launched from its building berth at the Port of Belfast.
In 1916, British and German fleets fought the “Battle of Jutland” off Denmark during the First World War.
In 1928, Nova Scotia abolished its upper house, the legislative council.
In 1942, German warplanes bombed Canterbury, England, causing severe damage to Canterbury Cathedral, the seat of Anglicanism, in retaliation for the Allied assault on Cologne, Germany.
In 1943, Ernest Manning replaced the late William Aberhart as Alberta’s Social Credit premier. Manning remained in office until 1968.
In 1961, South Africa became an independent republic, breaking its 155-year tie with Britain.
In 1962, Nazi SS officer Adolf Eichmann was hanged in Israel for his complicity in killing millions of Jews during the Second World War.
In 1968, Canada’s first heart transplant was performed at the Montreal Heart Institute. A team headed by Dr. Pierre Grondin operated on 58-year-old Albert Murphy. The retired butcher died 46 hours later.
In 1970, 70,000 people died in Peru in what experts called the most destructive earthquake in the Western hemisphere. Its magnitude measured 7.9.
In 1972, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau announced the introduction of Canadian bravery awards, plus a third level of the Order of Canada – Member.
In 1977, the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, three years in the making, was completed.
In 1985, devastating tornadoes tore across central Ontario, striking the communities of Barrie, Grand Valley, Orangeville and Tottenham. Twelve people died, hundreds were injured and 1,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed.
In 1990, the Supreme Court of Canada said judges must give native rights a generous and liberal interpretation.