TODAY IN HISTORY: Canadians storm Juno beach
In 1683, the first public museum, The Ashmolean, was opened in Oxford, England.
In 1844, the YMCA was founded in London by George Williams and a group of associates. It began in Canada six years later.
In 1861, the “Maid of the Mist” became the first ship to navigate the Niagara whirlpool rapids.
In 1888, Cornwall, Ont., was hit by a tornado that destroyed 500 homes.
In 1891, Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister, died at age 76. He led federal Conservative governments from 1867-73, and again from 1878 until his death. Macdonald’s achievements included the building of a cross-country railway and a national tariff policy.
In 1895, the Canadian Golf Association was founded in Ottawa. It became the Royal Canadian Golf Association a year later.
In 1925, Walter Percy Chrysler founded the Chrysler Corp.
In 1933, the world’s first drive-in movie theatre opened in Camden, N.J. The first movie shown was “Wife Beware.”
In 1944, the greatest combined military force ever assembled launched the
D-Day invasion on the beaches of Normandy, France, during the Second World War. Allied soldiers scrambled ashore as planes attacked German positions, and paratroopers secured a hold further inland. Total casualties of the D-Day invasion have been estimated at 10,000 dead or wounded.
In 1945, Canada joined 25 other countries in setting up a body to regulate international civil aviation.
In 1953, Queen Elizabeth knighted New Zealand mountain climber Edmund
Hillary, a week after he became one of the first two men to reach the summit of
Mount Everest. Also knighted was Col. John Hunt, who led the British expedition on the world’s tallest mountain.
In 1966, leaders of the Presbyterian Church in Canada approved the ordination of women as elders and ministers. Two years later, Shirley Jeffery became the church’s first female minister.
In 1976, oil billionaire J. Paul Getty died in London at age 83.
In 1981, the world’s worst rail disaster saw seven coaches of an overcrowded passenger train blown off the tracks into a river in Bihar, India. At least 800 people died.
In 1984, Indian troops stormed the Sikh shrine, the Golden Temple at Amritsar, killing an estimated 1,000 people.
In 1985, Brazilian police exhumed a body later confirmed to be that of Dr. Josef Mengele. His family said the notorious “Angel of Death” of the Auschwitz death camp during the Second World War had died in 1979.
In 1992, at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, participating countries agreed to set up new rules for fishing on the high seas.
In 1995, Belgian brewer Interbrew made a successful offer of $2.7 billion for John Labatt Ltd., the owner of the Toronto Blue Jays and Argonauts, SkyDome (now Rogers Centre) and the brewery.
In 2003, Prime Minister Jean Chretien opened the $8-million Juno Beach Centre in Normandy, France, honouring the valour of Canadian soldiers who fought and gave their lives during the June 6th, 1944, D-Day invasion. A total of 340 men died and 574 more were wounded during the assault.
In 2003, after more than five years of diplomatic efforts, Cambodia and the UN signed an agreement to create a tribunal to probe the 1975-1979 atrocities by the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia in which 1.7 million people were killed.