TODAY IN history

In 1661, female actors appeared on an English stage for the first time.

In 1777, the United States adopted the Stars and Stripes as its official flag.

In 1777, American General George Washington’s army routed the British in the Battle of Princeton, N.J.

In 1793, slavery was abolished in Canada.

In 1800, Upper Canada Attorney-General John White died in a duel with John Small, the province’s top civil servant, at the government building in York (now Toronto). White had called Small’s wife a duke’s discarded mistress.

In 1827, Letitia Youmans, the founder of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union in Canada, was born near Hamilton.

In 1833, Britain seized control of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. Argentina occupied the islands in 1982, but Britain took them back after a 74-day war.

In 1863, Canada’s first covered skating rink opened in Halifax.

In 1888, waxed paper straws were patented in the U.S.