Today in History for Feb. 23:
On this date:
In A.D. 155, Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna (present-day Izmir, Turkey) and an early Church Father who was a disciple of the Apostle John, was martyred. Arrested at age 86, Polycarp was burned at the stake by the Romans for refusing to deny the Christian faith.
In 303, Roman Emperor Diocletian began his Great Persecution, issuing edicts calling for church buildings to be destroyed, sacred writings burned, Christians to lose civil rights, and clergy to be imprisoned and forced to sacrifice.
In 1455 (traditional date), Johannes Gutenberg published the Bible, the first book ever printed on a press with movable type.
In 1468, German printer Johannes Gutenberg died.
In 1836, the siege of the Alamo began in San Antonio, Texas. Mexican troops under Gen. Santa Anna eventually wiped out the American garrison. Among those killed was frontiersman Davy Crockett.
In 1874, lawn tennis was patented by W.C. Wingfield of England.
In 1875, Hull, Que., was incorporated as a city.
In 1885, in Devonshire, England, John Lee became the only man to survive hanging three times. His death sentence was eventually commuted to life in prison.
In 1893, the Stanley Cup was awarded for the first time to the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association team.
In 1905, Rotary Club International was founded in Chicago.
In 1906, Ontario-born Tommy Burns became Canada's first world heavyweight boxing champion. He held the title for two years.
In 1909, John McCurdy of Baddeck, N.S., made the British Empire's first powered flight. He flew the "Silver Dart" nearly a kilometre over the frozen Baddeck Bay at an altitude of about 10 metres.
In 1918, the Bolsheviks formed the Soviet Red Army.
In 1945, during the Second World War, U.S. Marines on Iwo Jima captured Mount Suribachi, where they raised the American flag twice. (The second flag-raising was captured in the iconic photo taken by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal).
In 1953, Britain granted amnesty to more than 14,000 Second World War military deserters.
In 1954, the first mass inoculation of children against polio with the Salk vaccine began in Pittsburgh.
In 1965, Stan Laurel of the "Laurel and Hardy" comedy team died in Santa Monica, Calif. He was 74.
In 1970, the first public presentation of the Junos, the annual awards of the Canadian recording industry, took place in Toronto.
In 1972, a Soviet rocket with lunar rock samples aboard blasted off from the Moon.
In 1979, W.A.C. Bennett, premier of British Columbia from 1952-72, died at the age of 78.
In 1982, Quebec Government House Leader Claude Charron resigned from the Parti Quebecois cabinet. He had tried to steal a sports jacket from a Montreal department store.
In 1990, rookie Vancouver Tory MP Kim Campbell became Canada's first female justice minister. She also served as defence minister in the Mulroney cabinet before winning the Tory leadership in June 1993 and briefly serving as prime minister.
In 1994, Quebec's Myriam Bedard became the first Canadian woman to win two gold medals at a single Winter Olympics. Bedard overcame a pair of mismatched skis to win the 7.5-km biathlon race in Lillehammer, Norway, by only 1.1 seconds. She also won the 15-km event five days before, plus the 15-km bronze medal at the 1992 Games in Albertville, France.
In 1994, a two-year-old from Rouleau, Sask., survived six hours outside in bitterly cold weather. Doctors said Karlee Kosolofskis's core body temperature when she was found was 14 degrees. She was the first person on record to survive such a low body temperature.
In 1998, 42 people were killed and some 2,600 homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed by tornadoes in central Florida.
In 2001, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld Senator Eric Berntson's 1999 conviction for defrauding Saskatchewan taxpayers of more than $41,000 while serving as deputy premier in the late 1980s. Berntson resigned his Senate seat and began serving a one-year jail term.
In 2002, Gordon Matthews, the inventor of voice mail, died at age 65 in Austin, Texas. Matthews, who held more than 35 patents, conceived voice mail in the late 1970s and patented it in 1982.
In 2007, the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously struck down the key elements of the security certificate system used by the federal government to detain and deport foreign-born terrorist suspects.
In 2009, David Ahenakew, a former senator with the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, was found not guilty of wilfully promoting hatred in his second trial on the charge. Ahenakew was charged after making remarks about Jews during a public speech and subsequent interview with a newspaper reporter in 2002. After his first trial, Ahenakew was convicted of wilfully promoting hatred and fined, but in 2006 the Court of Queen's Bench set aside the conviction and ordered a new trial.
In 2010, Justice minister Rob Nicholson enacted Bill C-25. Criminals convicted in Canada would no longer be able to receive double credit for time served before trial unless there are exceptional circumstances.
In 2010, Whistler, B.C.-native Ashleigh McIvor became the first Olympic women's ski-cross champion as the sport made its Olympic debut at the Winter Games in Vancouver.
In 2010, former NBA star Jayson Williams was sentenced to five years in prison for fatally shooting a hired limo driver in 2002, ending an eight-year legal odyssey by tearfully apologizing to the victim's family.
In 2011, federal legislation that ended two-for-one credit for time served pre-trial for offenders stood after an Ontario Court Justice dismissed a challenge against the Truth in Sentencing Act.
In 2012, National League MVP Ryan Braun's 50-game suspension was overturned by baseball arbitrator Shyam Das because the urine sample had been improperly handled. It was the first time a baseball player successfully challenged a drug-related penalty in a grievance. However in 2013, Braun was suspended for 65 games for drug violations.
In 2014, Canada won its second consecutive Olympic men's hockey gold medal, defeating Sweden 3-0, and closed the Sochi Games with 25 medals (10 gold, 10 silver, five bronze), fourth overall in total medals and third-most in golds.
In 2015, Wade MacLauchlan was sworn in P.E.I.'s 32nd premier. He ran unopposed for the Liberal party's leadership after Robert Ghiz announced he was stepping down after eight years as premier.
In 2018, at the Pyeongchang Winter Games, Canada's freestyle skiers Kelsey Serwa and Brittany Phelan took gold and silver, respectively, in the women's skicross competition while Kaetlyn Osmond won the bronze medal in women's figure skating.
In 2018, Rick Gates, a former senior advisor to U.S. President Donald Trump's election campaign, pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy and false-statements charges, switching from defendant to co-operating witness in special counsel Robert Mueller's probe of Trump's campaign and Russia's election interference.
In 2020, the CBC series "Schitt's Creek" and "Anne with an E" were the top winners at the ACTRA Awards. "Schitt's Creek" took the Members' Choice Series Ensemble Award for a second straight year at the annual gala put on by Canada's performers' union in Toronto. Dalmar Abuzeid won a trophy for outstanding performance by a male for playing a Trinidadian sailor on "Anne with an E," while Cara Ricketts won outstanding performance by a female for playing the sailor's wife.
In 2020, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration stopped allowing employees to use the video app TikTok, after the Senate's top Democrat raised concerns about potential national security issues with the China-owned app.
In 2020, Teck Resources announced the cancellation of its oilsands project in northern Alberta, over what the company called the political discourse over climate change.
In 2021, Canada and Australia banded together to ensure the revenues of web giants are shared more fairly with creators and media. In a statement, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said they agreed to continue "co-ordinating efforts" to ensure social media companies pay for journalism. The increasing alliance between the two countries came as Facebook backed down on its ban on Australians viewing news on its platform.
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The Canadian Press
