TODAY IN HISTORY

■ In 1534, French explorer Jacques Cartier landed on the Gaspe Peninsula in Quebec on the first of his three voyages to North America. At the rocky headland of Gaspe known as Penouille Point, Cartier erected a 10-metre cross bearing the arms of France and claimed the territory for King Francis I.

■ In 1802, Alexander Dumas, author of “The Three Musketeers,” was born in France.

■ In 1814, the bloodiest battle of the War of 1812 was fought at Lundy’s Lane. The British suffered 878 casualties with 84 killed, and the Americans had 853 with 171 killed. The battle checked the advance of invading U.S. forces and they withdrew to Fort Erie.

■ In 1846, the electric telegraph was demonstrated at Toronto.

■ In 1918, on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem, the cornerstone for Hebrew University was laid by Dr. Chaim Weizmann. Weizmann was later elected the first president of the modern state of Israel.

■ In 1922, the League of Nations approved the British mandate for Palestine.

■ In 1969, the Apollo 11 spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific, ending the historic flight which first put a man on the moon.

■ In 1974, U.S. President Richard Nixon was ordered by the Supreme Court to surrender the “Watergate” tapes. The decision led to Nixon’s resignation two weeks later.