Today in History for Feb. 24:
On this date:
In 1446, the earliest known lottery was drawn in Bruges, Belgium.
In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII issued a papal bull outlining his calendar reforms that adjusted the number of leap years in the Julian calendar so it did not gain three full days every 400 years. The Gregorian calendar, as it became known, is still in general use today.
In 1633, English poet and cleric George Herbert died. His devotional poems, collected in "The Temple," exemplify the metaphysical tradition.
In 1662, Bishop Laval of New France said people selling liquor to natives would be excommunicated.
In 1663, King Louis XIV of France cancelled the charter of the Company of 100. The Company had been given exclusive jurisdiction over fur trading in the New World in exchange for promises to colonize the territory. The Crown took over that responsibility.
In 1821, Mexico declared its independence from Spain.
In 1887, Vancouver lost its city charter following protests over the hiring of Chinese labourers.
In 1897, Emile Berliner took out a Canadian patent on his gramophone talking machine.
In 1920, a fledgling German political party held its first meeting of importance in Munich. Known as the Nazi party, its chief spokesman was Adolf Hitler.
In 1938, nylon was produced for the first time in Arlington, N.J., for use as toothbrush bristles. It also quickly became popular in women's stockings.
In 1952, the Edmonton Mercurys won the Olympic hockey title in Oslo, Norway. Canadian teams won six of the seven Olympic hockey tournaments between 1920 and '52. They posted a record of 37-1-3, scoring 403 goals and allowing only 34. Canada did not win another hockey gold medal until the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. Canada's Olympic hockey medal count during the 50-year drought was three silvers (1960, '92 and '94) and one bronze ('68). (Canada won gold again at the 2010 Vancouver Games and 2014 Sochi Games.)
In 1956, Queen Elizabeth authorized the coats-of-arms of Yukon and the Northwest Territories.
In 1963, New Brunswick proclaimed its flag.
In 1976, the Trudeau government unveiled its "peace and security" legislation. It included the abolition of hanging, increased minimum sentences for murder, stricter gun control and wider police wiretapping powers.
In 1981, Prince Charles became engaged to Lady Diana Spencer. They were married that July 29th.
In 1986, Tommy Douglas, remembered as the father of medicare, died at age 81. As Saskatchewan premier from 1944-61, he implemented Canada's first public hospital insurance program. In 1962, a year after Douglas became the federal NDP leader, Saskatchewan introduced North America's first socialized health plan.
In 1991, comedian George Gobel passed away at a southern California hospital at the age of 71. Most people remember Gobel as a regular on the "Hollywood Squares" game show.
In 1991, the ground campaign began in the Gulf War with an allied night attack. More than 14,000 Iraqis were captured in the first 24 hours of fighting.
In 1992, General Motors reported a $4.5 billion loss for 1991. The same day, the auto giant said it would close a dozen North American plants by 1995, including a foundry in St. Catharines, Ont.
In 1993, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney announced he was stepping down after more than eight years in office. He said his greatest disappointment was the failure of the Meech Lake constitutional accord. In June, Kim Campbell won the Tory leadership and served briefly as prime minister.
In 1993, Hockey Hall of Fame broadcaster Danny Gallivan died at age 75. He was the English voice of the Montreal Canadiens from 1952-84.
In 1998, comedian Henny Youngman died of complications from the flu. He was 91. He was known as the king of the one-liners, including "Take my wife, please."
In 2000, the United States suspended the export of guns to Canada.
In 2002, Canada's 50-year wait for an Olympic men's hockey title ended. Joe Sakic scored twice and assisted on two other goals as Canada downed the United States 5-2 in the gold-medal game in Salt Lake City. The victory, which set off celebrations across Canada, came 50 years to the day that the Edmonton Mercurys won Canada's previous Olympic hockey crown in Oslo, Norway. (Canada won gold again at the 2010 Vancouver Games and the 2014 Sochi Games.)
In 2004, three heads of Crown corporations - Canada Post chair Andre Oullet, Via Rail's Marc LeFrancois and Business Development Bank of Canada's Michel Vennat - were suspended over the sponsorship scandal.
In 2004, a 6.5-magnitude earthquake devastated an isolated region of northern Morocco, killing more than 600 people.
In 2005, the Ontario legislature approved same-sex legislation that extended the definitions of spouse and marriage in Ontario to include gay and lesbian couples in 73 provincial laws.
In 2005, Prime Minister Paul Martin announced that Canada would not sign on to the controversial U.S. missile defence program.
In 2006, 34-year-old Rodney MacDonald was sworn in as premier of Nova Scotia -- Canada's youngest premier.
In 2007, a tentative deal was reached to end the 15-day CN Railway strike by 2,800 employees, one day after the federal government introduced back-to-work legislation.
In 2008, "No Country for Old Men" won the Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Javier Bardem) and Best Screenplay adaption (Joel and Ethan Coen); Daniel Day-Lewis won Best Actor for "There Will Be Blood," while Marion Cotillard was named Best Actress for "La Vie en Rose."
In 2010, the British government apologized for an ugly chapter of its history (between 1833 and 1948) that saw 100,000 impoverished children sent to Canada to work on farms through the child migrant program.
In 2010, in her final Olympic race, 37-year-old Canadian speedskater Clara Hughes won bronze in the women's 5,000 metres, bringing her career total up to six in both cycling and speedskating.
In 2010, Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse won the gold medal in the women's bobsleigh at the Vancouver Games, while fellow Canadians Helen Upperton and Shelley-Ann Brown took the silver. (Humphries and Moyse successfully defended their title at the 2014 Sochi Games.)
In 2011, NASA's most travelled space shuttle, Discovery, blasted off one last time on its final voyage after nearly three decades of service.
In 2011, in a remarkable financial U-turn, once-bankrupt General Motors posted a US$4.7 billion profit for 2010, its first profitable year since 2004. The company lost more than $80 billion in the five years before its bankruptcy in 2009 and needed a government bailout to survive.
In 2013, Daniel Day-Lewis won the Oscar for Best Actor for his portrayal of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, becoming the first to win three Best Actor awards.
In 2014, NBC's late night makeover was complete when former "Saturday Night Live" veteran Seth Meyers debuted as the new host of "Late Night."
In 2015, Alaska became the third U.S. state to legalize recreational marijuana. Colorado and Washington state had legalized recreational marijuana in 2012 and opened retail shops in 2014.
In 2018, Canadian snowboarder Sebastien Toutant won gold in the inaugural men's big air event at the Pyeongchang Winter Games, giving Canada it's 500th medal in all Winter and Summer Games; Canada won the bronze medal in men's hockey with a 6-4 win over the Czech Republic, the first Olympics without NHL players since 1994.
In 2019, The 91st Oscars were handed out in Hollywood. The hostless Academy Awards show was awash in historic wins for diversity, including Spike Lee's first competitive Oscar for best adapted screenplay for his white supremacist drama "BlacKkKlansman." "Roma" won best director and best cinematography for Alfonso Cuaron, whose deeply personal film also notched Mexico's first foreign-language film Oscar. Toronto-raised director Domee Shi won an Oscar for the Pixar short dumpling tale "Bao."
In 2020, South Korea became a smaller epicentre of COVID-19 a day after the country's president called for unprecedented steps to combat the outbreak. Italy also became a focal point of the novel coronavirus outbreak in Europe, with police manning checkpoints around quarantined towns in the north and residents stocking up on food.
In 2020, Ontario Provincial Police cleared a rail blockade on Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory near Belleville, Ont., after protesters ignored a midnight deadline to clear the blockade. The removal process remained largely non-violent but several people were arrested and taken away in a police van.
In 2020, a Manhattan jury convicted movie mogul Harvey Weinstein of rape, but not of the most serious charge he was facing of predatory sexual assault. The jury's decision followed weeks of often harrowing and excruciatingly graphic testimony from a string of women and was seen as a long-overdue reckoning for Weinstein after years of whispers about his behaviour.
In 2020, police in Germany said 35 people, including 18 children, were admitted to a hospital after a driver plowed into a crowd celebrating Carnival. Local media said the 29-year-old man behind the wheel was also injured in the incident.
In 2020, the federal carbon tax was struck down as unconstitutional by Alberta's Appeal Court, which said legislation that brought in the tax eroded provincial jurisdiction. Federal Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said the government would await a Supreme Court of Canada ruling on the matter.
In 2020, the federal government introduced legislation aimed at making it easier for suffering Canadians to get medical help to end their lives. Justice Minister David Lametti said the bill would scrap a provision in the law that allows only those already near death to receive medical assistance in dying. The Superior Court of Quebec had previously ruled it was unconstitutional for the federal law to restrict eligibility to those whose natural death is "reasonably foreseeable."
In 2021, a police officer who was first to arrive at the scene said Tiger Woods was lucky to be alive after his SUV crashed into a median and rolled over several times on a steep road in suburban Los Angeles. The golf superstar had a rod, pins and screws inserted into his right leg following extensive surgery to stabilize several shattered bones and other injuries he sustained in the crash. Woods had suffered knee, back and neck problems for more than a decade, and the new injuries raised the question of whether the 45-year-old would be able continue his golfing career.
In 2021, Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine passed a large real-world study. Results from a mass vaccination campaign in Israel, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, said the Pfizer shot is very effective at preventing serious illness or death, even after one dose. The vaccine was found to be 62 per cent effective at preventing severe disease after one shot, and 92 per cent effective after a second.
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The Canadian Press
