Today in History for Oct. 3rd:
In 1226, St. Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscan order, died. He was canonized in 1228.
In 1692, in Massachusetts, theologian Increase Mather published his "Cases of Conscience Concerning Evil Spirits," which effectively brought an end to the Salem Witch Trials which had begun earlier in the year.
In 1863, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.
In 1882, landscape painter A.Y. Jackson was born in Montreal. In 1913, he moved to Toronto where he was to become a member of the Group of Seven.
In 1914, the first group of Canadian volunteers to fight in the First World War sailed from Gaspe, Que., for England. A total of 33,000 men, 7,000 horses, and 144 pieces of artillery travelled in 32 ships, escorted by 10 British warships.
In 1919, the Dominion grocery store chain was incorporated.
In 1922, Rebecca Felton of Georgia became the first woman to be seated in the U.S. Senate.
In 1927, Prime Minister W. L. Mackenzie King and British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin inaugurated a transatlantic phone service.
In 1929, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, proclaimed after the First World War, became known as Yugoslavia.
In 1929, Britain and the Soviet Union resumed relations two years after Britain accused the Soviets of plotting to foster a Communist revolt in the U.K.
In 1935, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini's plan for a new Roman empire began with Italy's invasion of Ethiopia. The League of Nations imposed sanctions on Italy in retaliation, but they were soon abandoned. The African country was finally conquered in May 1937, after Italian forces stepped up bombing and poison gas attacks. Ethiopia was incorporated into Italian East Africa until 1941, when it was liberated by British troops.
In 1941, Adolf Hitler declared in a speech in Berlin that Russia had been "broken" and would "never rise again."
In 1944, U.S. troops cracked Germany's "Siegfried Line" during the Second World War.
In 1946, all 39 people aboard an American Overseas Airlines aircraft were killed when it smashed into Hare Hill, near Stephenville, Nfld. At that time, it was the worst disaster in the history of U.S. civil aviation. The plane was bound for Shannon, Ireland, from New York when it crashed 10 minutes after takeoff from Harmon Field, Nfld., where it had refuelled.
In 1951, the New York Giants captured the National League pennant as Bobby Thomson hit a three-run homer off the Brooklyn Dodgers' Ralph Branca in the "shot heard 'round the world."
In 1952, Britain successfully exploded its first atomic weapon on Monte Bello Islands, off Australia.
In 1974, Frank Robinson became major league baseball's first black manager when he was hired by the Cleveland Indians.
In 1981, Winnipeg quarterback Dieter Brock set a CFL record with 41 completions in a game in Ottawa. (Saskatchewan's Kent Austin matched the in 1993. In 2008, Montreal Alouettes quarterback Anthony Calvillo completed 44 passes, and Ottawa Redblacks quarterback Henry Burris connected on 45 passes in 2015.)
In 1981, Irish nationalists at the Maze prison near Belfast, Northern Ireland, ended seven months of hunger strikes that had claimed 10 lives.
In 1986, official ground-breaking ceremonies were held for Toronto's SkyDome stadium. (now Rogers Centre)
In 1987, Canada and the United States reached a free-trade agreement just before a U.S. deadline for completing negotiations. The pact called for the elimination of all cross-border trade tariffs within 10 years and the establishment of a common energy market in petroleum, gas, uranium and hydroelectricity. The deal took effect Jan. 1, 1989.
In 1988, the shuttle "Discovery" completed a four-day mission, the first shuttle flight since the "Challenger" disaster of January 1986.
In 1990, East and West Germany ended 45 years of post-war division, declaring the creation of a new unified country.
In 1995, former football star O.J. Simpson was found not guilty in the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman, ending a sensational trial that had riveted the American public. (Simpson was later found liable in a civil trial).
In 1998, Australian Prime Minister John Howard and his Conservative coalition won a second term in a general election.
In 2000, a state funeral was held for former prime minister Pierre Trudeau at Notre Dame Basilica in Old Montreal. It was attended by Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson, Prime Minister Jean Chretien, many leading present and former political figures, diplomats and world dignitaries including Cuban President Fidel Castro and former U.S. president Jimmy Carter.
In 2002, five people were shot to death in the Washington, D.C. area within a 14-hour period, beginning the hunt for the "Beltway Sniper." (In all, 10 people were killed; mastermind John Allen Muhammad and teenage accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo were caught on Oct. 24. Muhammad was executed on Nov. 10, 2009 while Malvo is serving a life sentence in Virginia.)
In 2003, a tiger attacked magician Roy Horn of duo "Siegfried & Roy" during a performance in Las Vegas, leaving the superstar illusionist in critical condition on his 59th birthday. Horn eventually recovered from his injuries but the attack ended their 45-year partnership. On Feb. 28, 2009, the duo headed back to the stage for a one-night only charity performance promoted as "the final bow."
In 2006, Americans John Mather and George Smoot won the Nobel Prize for physics for finding the background radiation that finally nailed down the "Big Bang" theory of the origin of the universe.
In 2008, former NFL star O.J. Simpson was convicted of kidnapping, armed robbery and 10 other charges after an incident in which he and five men stormed a Las Vegas hotel room to seize sports-memorabilia at gunpoint from two dealers. Simpson was later sentenced to nine to 33 years in prison. He was released on parole in October 2017.
In 2008, U.S. President George W. Bush signed into law an unprecedented US$700 billion plan aimed at easing the financial sector's credit crisis after the legislation was passed by the House of Representatives 263-171.
In 2010, the final "Cathy" comic strip was published. It chronicled the life, frustrations and swimsuit season meltdowns of its namesake for 34 years. The comic, created by Cathy Guisewite, won several awards, including a 1992 National Cartoonists Society's Reuben Award and an Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program in 1987, and at its height appeared in 1,400 papers.
In 2011, Liberal Premier Robert Ghiz secured his second majority government in Prince Edward Island, winning 22 of the province's 27 seats — but down from the 24 they held at dissolution.
In 2011, voters in the Northwest Territories elected 19 representatives in the territorial election. Those members chose Bob McLeod, a former deputy industry minister, as the new premier in a secret ballot on Oct. 26.
In 2011, an Italian appeals court overturned Amanda Knox's conviction of sexually assaulting and killing her British roommate, 21-year-old Meredith Kercher, and ordered her freed after nearly four years in prison. Knox promptly returned to the U.S. Raffaele Sollecito, her former Italian boyfriend and co-defendant, was also cleared. Rudy Guede was convicted of the slaying in a separate proceeding and is serving a 16-year sentence. (In 2013, the Italian Supreme Court vacated the acquittal and ordered a new appeals trial, where the murder conviction was upheld. But the Italian Supreme Court overturned the conviction and bringing to a definitive end the high-profile case.)
In 2013, a ship carrying more than 500 African migrants to Europe caught fire and capsized off the Italian island of Lampedusa, killing at least 365 people.
In 2015, a U.S. airstrike mistakenly destroyed a Doctors Without Borders hospital in the Afghan city of Kunduz, killing 30 people - including 13 staff members of the international medical aid group - and wounding dozens more.
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(The Canadian Press)
The Canadian Press
