Today in History

In 1478, Sir Thomas More, lord chancellor of England during the English Reformation, was born. More, the author of “Utopia,” was executed for high treason by Henry VIII in 1535 because he refused to recognize the king as head of the church in England.

In 1758, the Governor and Council of Nova Scotia passed resolutions organizing Canada’s first legislature.

In 1792, free land was offered to U.S. citizens settling in Canada.

In 1804, the inventor of the steel plow, John Deere, was born in Vermont.

In 1812, Charles Dickens, considered the greatest writer of the Victorian period, was born in Portsmouth, England. The author of such novels as “Great Expectations,” “Oliver Twist” and “A Christmas Carol” was widely acclaimed not only for his writing but also for his attacks on social evils, injustice, and hypocrisy. His novels remain popular today -- with at least 180 movies and TV adaptations based on his works. He died in 1870.

In 1827, the first ballet to be performed in the U.S., “The Deserter,” was presented at the Bowery Theatre in New York City. It featured a ballerina in such flimsy attire that many women in the audience are reported to have walked out.

In 1837, British nurse Florence Nightingale left for the Crimean War. She paved the way for modern-day nursing and later became the first female recipient of the British Order Of Merit.

In 1867, Laura Ingalls Wilder, American author of “Little House on the Prairie,” was born. Her series of Little House books, based loosely on her own pioneer childhood, has become a children’s classic.

In 1867, the British North America Act, creating the Dominion of Canada, was introduced in the House of Lords.

In 1874, hundreds of people marched into the B.C. legislature in Victoria, demanding the resignation of Premier Amor de Cosmos over plans that could have delayed the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway to the province. Cosmos did actually resign several days later, but only in order to run for a federal seat.

In 1891, Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald gave his final speech in the House of Commons before entering his last election campaign. He died four months later.

In 1904, a fire began in Baltimore that raged for about 30 hours and destroyed more than 1,500 buildings.

In 1922, the first 5,000 copies of a new magazine, “The Reader’s Digest,” were sold in New York.

In 1926, a gold rush began at Red Bank, Ont.

In 1940, Walt Disney’s animated motion picture “Pinocchio” had its U.S. premiere.

In 1964, four Montreal bachelors -Vic Emery, Peter Kirby, Doug Anakin and John Emery -- won the Olympic four-man bobsled gold medal in Innsbruck, Austria. It was the first time Canada had entered an Olympic bobsled competition.

In 1971, women in Switzerland won the right to vote and hold office.

In 1974, the Caribbean island nation of Grenada won independence from Britain.

In 1980, TV cameras were allowed in the Supreme Court of Canada for the first time, to film the retirement proceedings of Justice Louis-philippe Pigeon.

In 1984, space shuttle astronauts Bruce Mccandless and Robert Stewart took the first untethered space walk, spending 90 minutes in free flight near the space shuttle “Challenger.”

In 1986, it rained sardines in Ipswich, Australia. Scientists speculated that a violent storm caused updrafts, which lifted the fish from shallow waters and took them up into the atmosphere.

In 1986, Haitian dictator Jeanclaude (Baby Doc) Duvalier fled to France on a U.S. Air Force plane.

In 1986, Corazon Aquino was elected president of the Philippines, despite vote-buying, stuffed ballot boxes and violence. The day she was sworn in, Feb. 25, former president Ferdinand Marcos fled the country with his family. Marcos died in Hawaii in 1989.

In 1990, the Soviet Union’s Communist party agreed to let alternative parties compete for control of the country. The move ended the one-party rule that had been a way of life since the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.

In 1990, the Nova Scotia government officially apologized to Donald Marshall for his wrongful conviction. Marshall had spent 11 years in prison for a murder committed in 1971. The apology came weeks after a royal commission exonerated Marshall.

In 1997, a Quebec man drove a Jeep up two flights of stairs of the Parliament buildings before stopping just short of the main door under the Peace Tower. The incident caused the government to ban tour buses and unauthorized cars from Parliament Hill. The driver, who was mentally ill, was found not criminally responsible for his actions.

In 1998, the Hudson’s Bay Company bought Kmart Canada for $240 million.

In 1999, King Hussein of Jordan died of cancer at the age of 63. He had ruled for 47 years.

In 2000, Canadian magicianillusionist Doug Henning died of cancer at the age of 52.

In 2002, “Atanarjuat,” the first Inuit-made feature film, won six Genie Awards.

In 2007, Nortel Networks said it was cutting 2,900 jobs around the world, and would shift another 1,000 positions to countries with lower labour costs.

In 2010, the New Orleans Saints defeated the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 in Super Bowl XLIV.

In 2011, the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 in Halifax opened its doors as the country’s sixth national museum. From the late 1920s to the early 1970s, Pier 21 was Canada’s front door for more than one million immigrants, refugees, troops, wartime evacuees, war brides and their children.

In 2015, Brian Williams said he was temporarily stepping aside as anchor of “NBC Nightly News” after telling a false story about being in a helicopter hit by a grenade in Iraq 12 years earlier. NBC later suspended him for six months without pay and in June announced he would not return as “Nightly News” anchor, but would continue breaking news reports at the cable network MSNBC.

In 2016, the Denver Broncos’ No. 1-ranked defence was dominant in a 24-10 win over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50. Peyton Manning became the first quarterback to lead two teams to Super Bowl wins (Indianapolis, 2006) and register his then-nfl record 200th career victory. Denver linebacker Von Miller was named MVP.

In 2019, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau denied an incendiary allegation that his office pressured former attorney general Jody Wilsonraybould to help Snc-lavalin avoid a criminal prosecution. The Quebec engineering and construction giant faced legal trouble over allegations it paid millions of dollars in bribes to get government business in Libya, which would be a crime under Canadian law. The Globe and Mail reported that Snclavalin repeatedly lobbied Trudeau’s aides for a deal to avoid prosecution but that Wilson-raybould resisted when the PMO leaned on her to make it happen. She was later moved to Veterans Affairs.

In 2019, a blockbuster deal from the Toronto Raptors as they tried to keep pace in the NBA’S Eastern Conference. They acquired Marc Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for Jonas Valanciunas (Yoh’-nus val-anchoo’-nus). C-J Miles, Delon Wright and 2024 second-round draft pick were also heading to Memphis.

In 2020, two groups of Canadian evacuees from Wuhan, China, touched down on Canadian soil after severe weather and political meandering caused multiple delays. A flight carrying 176 passengers arrived at Ontario’s Canadian Forces Base Trenton after refuelling in Vancouver. About 50 more Canadians who arrived in Vancouver on an American chartered flight were told to disembark and board another plane that would take them to Trenton for a mandatory 14-day quarantine over concerns about the novel coronavirus. Officials said some permanent residents and Chinese nationals with Canadian visas were allowed to escort 34 Canadian minors returning home.

In 2020, the federally owned company in charge of building the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion said the project is now estimated to cost $12.6 billion _ a 70 per cent jump from the estimate made three years ago by the previous owner, Kinder Morgan.

In 2020, Toronto Raptors President Masai Ujiri joined Justin Trudeau on a trip to Africa, as the prime minister tried to gain support for Canada’s bid for a temporary seat on the United Nations Security Council. Ujiri said he was planning to travel to Africa to promote his foundation, which uses basketball to educate and enrich the lives of youth, and joined the trip on Trudeau’s invitation.

In 2021, Quebec surpassed 10,000 deaths from COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.

In 2021, Ontario logged its first case of a contagious COVID-19 variant that was first detected in Brazil. Toronto Public Health said the patient had recently returned from travelling to Brazil and was sent to hospital.

In 2021, veteran quarterback Tom Brady led his team to victory in the 55th Super Bowl. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers fiercely defended their home turf, routing the Kansas City Chiefs 31-9. Brady was named MVP for the fifth time in his career to go along with his seventh Super Bowl title.

In 2021, Jackie Vautour, who battled against the federal expropriation of land from Acadian families to create a national park in the late 1960s, died at 92. He was remembered by some New Brunswickers as a symbol of the francophone minority’s resistance. Vautour died after being hospitalized with liver cancer and pneumonia.

In 2022, Canada pulled off a surprise medal performance in the mixed team ski jumping competition at the Olympics. The Canadian team of Alexandria Loutitt, Matthew Soukup, Abigail Strate and Mackenzie Boydclowes placed third, with Boyd-clowes securing the bronze on Canada’s final jump. Canada had never won an Olympic medal in any ski jumping discipline. Kim Boutin also blazed her way to a bronze medal in women’s short-track speedskating.