TODAY IN HISTORY

On this day in 1891, an explosion in a coal mine at Springhill, N. S. killed 125 miners. Coal gas was suspected as the cause of the blast. The accident was the first of several that occurred over the years in Springhill. The mines were shut forever after a rock surge on Oct. 23, 1958, in which 74 miners died.

Also on this date:

In 1109, Anselm, founder of Scholasticism and the archbishop of Canterbury, died. His treatise Why Did God Become Man is recognized by scholars as the greatest medieval treatise on the atonement. In 1824, 18- year- old Patrick Bergen of Saint John, N. B., was hanged for stealing 25 cents.

In 1935, John Buchan was appointed Governor General of Canada and made Baron Tweedsmuir. He served from Nov. 2, 1935, until Feb. 11, 1940. He was the first governor general to visit the Arctic. Buchan was also an author, writing biographies and thrillers such as The Thirty- Nine Steps. He died in Montreal in 1940.