TODAY IN history

In 1682, French explorer Robert de La Salle claimed the Mississippi River Basin for France.

In 1799, British scientist Sir Humphrey Davy discovered the anaesthetic properties of nitrous oxide, better known as laughing gas.

In 1865, the American Civil War ended when Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrendered at the Appotomatox Court House in Virginia to Union commander Ulysses S. Grant.

In 1917, four Canadian divisions began an assault on Vimy Ridge in northeast France. British and French troops had been unsuccessful in earlier attempts to capture the ridge, a key German defensive position. By April 14, the Canadians had won the battle, earning them recognition as an elite force among the Allies and Germans. Almost 3,600 Canadians were killed in the fighting.

In 1931, Richard Hatfield, New Brunswick’s longest-serving premier, was born at Woodstock, N.B. He was known for promoting national unity and linguistic equality and worked for the patriation of the Constitution and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. After setting a record for holding a premier’s office, his reputation was tarnished by persistent questions about his private life. His Conservatives lost every seat in the 1987 election and Hatfield immediately resigned the leadership. He died in 1991.