Today in History for Oct. 22:
In 1692, a 14-year-old girl repelled an Iroquois attack on Vercheres near Montreal. Marie-Madeleine de Vercheres took charge and rallied people inside the fort. At her command, a cannon was fired to warn neighbors of the attack. She led the defence for eight days until help arrived.
In 1707, the English ship "Association" sank with 200 aboard.
In 1721, Peter the Great became Czar of Russia.
In 1797, French balloonist Andre-Jacques Garnerin made the first parachute descent, landing safely from a height of about 3,000 feet over Paris.
In 1844, "The Great Disappointment" began after a date set for the return of Jesus Christ by religious leader William Miller passed without event. About 100,000 followers of the farmer-turned revivialist from upstate New York returned to their former churches or left the Christian faith altogether.
In 1844, Metis leader Louis Riel was born at the Red River Settlement in what is now Manitoba. He was hanged for treason in 1885 but many consider him to be a hero.
In 1883, the original Metropolitan Opera House in New York opened with a production of Gounod's "Faust." The building was heavily damaged by fire in 1892, but was rebuilt. The current Metropolitan Opera House opened in 1966.
In 1901, the first primary aluminum ingot in Canada was produced by what is now the Alcan operation in Shawinigan, Que.
In 1934, bank robber Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd was shot to death by federal agents at a farm in East Liverpool, Ohio.
In 1938, the first Xerox photocopy was made by Chester Floyd Carlson, an American physicist. Carlson spent 20 years trying to find a company to produce his machine. Haloid Co. first marketed a Xerox copier in 1959 and then changed its name to Xerox Corp.
In 1944, Private Ernest "Smokey" Smith of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada won the Victoria Cross. Smith held off a German counterattack at the Savio River in Italy during the Second World War. Smith was born in New Westminster, B.C., in 1914.
In 1944, the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines, the largest naval battle ever, began.
In 1945, the Canadian Citizenship Act received its first reading in the House of Commons. Until the Act became law in January 1947, the legal terms Canadian National or British Subject were used to designate non-aliens in Canada. It was enacted on June 27, 1946, and came into force Jan. 1, 1947. Under the law, all Canadians, whether or not they had been born in Canada, became citizens. Canada became the first Commonwealth country to create its own class of citizenship separate from that of Great Britain.
In 1952, the complete Jewish Torah was published in English for the first time. A collection of oral and written commentary, dating from 200 BC to AD 500, on the first five books of the Old Testament, the Torah comprises the basic religious code of Judaism.
In 1954, U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower authorized a crash program to train the South Vietnamese army. The action followed the Geneva Accord which gave the communists control over North Vietnam.
In 1954, West Germany was accepted as a member of NATO.
In 1958, Blanche Margaret Meagher was appointed ambassador to Israel, the first Canadian woman to hold such a post.
In 1962, the world faced the prospect of nuclear war when American President John F. Kennedy announced the United States would impose a naval blockade around Cuba. The announcement followed the discovery of Soviet missiles on the Caribbean island. What became known as the Cuban missile crisis ended when Moscow agreed to dismantle the missiles in return for a Washington pledge not to invade Cuba.
In 1968, "Apollo 7" returned safely, splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean.
In 1979, the deposed Shah of Iran flew to New York to receive treatment for cancer. An international crisis developed later when students in Iran took American diplomats hostage and demanded the Shah be returned.
In 1981, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization was decertified by the federal government for its strike the previous August.
In 1988, Lubicon Indian chief Bernard Ominayak and Alberta Premier Don Getty concluded seven hours of talks by agreeing on 205 square kilometres for a Cree band reserve.
In 1990, the Senate passed the Mulroney government's bill overhauling the Unemployment Insurance system. Under the changes, Ottawa stopped contributing to the U.I. fund, leaving employers and their workers to shoulder the entire cost.
In 1991, the European Community and the European Free Trade Association concluded a landmark accord to create a free-trade zone of 19 nations by 1993.
In 1992, laser-physicist Steve MacLean became the third Canadian in space. During an 11-day mission on the shuttle "Columbia," MacLean conducted experiments in space technology, materials processing and life sciences.
In 1995, the United Nations opened its 50th anniversary celebrations with the largest-ever gathering of world leaders. About 200 heads of state, including Prime Minister Jean Chretien, took part in three days of speeches in New York.
In 1996, General Motors of Canada and the CAW reached an agreement on ending a three-week strike.
In 1998, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that billions of dollars had been illegally gouged from Canadians obliged to pay outlandish fees to have a will probated.
In 1999, waves of Russian missiles rained down on a marketplace, a maternity hospital and other civilian sites in the Chechen capital of Grozny, killing at least 143 people.
In 2002, Lawrence MacAulay resigned as Canada's solicitor-general after Ethics Counsellor concluded he twice breached conflict of interest rules. Prince Edward Island MP Wayne Easter replaced MacAulay.
In 2002, former Livent founders Garth Drabinsky and Myron Gotlieb were charged with 19 counts of fraud. In 2009, they were found guilty and sentenced to seven and six years respectively, but were released on bail pending appeal. (In 2011, an appeals court upheld the convictions but reduced each of their sentences by two years.)
In 2002, Canadian author Yann Martel won the Booker Prize for his novel "Life of Pi," about a boy adrift in a small boat with animals.
In 2003, Quebec Archbishop Marc Ouellett was among 30 elevated to cardinal by Pope John Paul II.
In 2008, India launched its first unmanned moon mission.
In 2010, whistleblower website WikiLeaks released nearly 400,000 pages of documents on the Iraq war that dated from the start of 2004 to Jan. 1, 2010, and suggested that 15,000 Iraqi civilian deaths were not reported in the U.S.-led war, bringing the total to just over 122,000.
In 2010, a sentencing deal called for Syncrude Canada to pay a total of $3 million in penalties for causing the deaths of 1,600 ducks at the company's Aurora toxic waste pond in northern Alberta in April 2008. Just three days later, more than 200 birds died at the oil giant's Mildred Lake tailings pond.
In 2010, the CRTC approved the $2 billion purchase of Canwest's TV stations by Shaw Communications. In the deal, Shaw purchased 11 local Global TV stations across Canada and a group of specialty channels, including Showcase, MovieTime and HGTV.
In 2012, an Italian court convicted seven scientists and experts of manslaughter for failing to adequately warn residents before a temblor struck central Italy in 2009 and killed more than 300 people. The court in L'Aquila also sentenced the defendants to six years each in prison. (In 2014, an appeals court overturned the ruling.)
In 2012, cycling's governing body, Union Cycliste Internationale, stripped Lance Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles and banned him for life.
In 2014, a gunman opened fire at the National War Memorial in Ottawa, killing ceremonial Honour Guard reservist Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, 24. Michael Zehaf Bibeau then stormed Parliament Hill's Centre Block, injuring a guard at the front doors and engaging security forces in a gunfight before being killed by sergeant-at-arms Kevin Vickers.
In 2015, Gilles Duceppe stepped down as leader of the Bloc Quebecois just four months into his second stint in charge. He failed to win his riding in the Oct. 19 federal election while the party won only 10 out of Quebec's 78 ridings, two short that is required for official party status. He first stepped down in 2011 when the party won four seats.
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(The Canadian Press)
The Canadian Press
