Today in History for June 22:
On this date:
In 1559, in England, Queen Elizabeth's "Prayer Book" was issued. It was the third revision for the Anglican Church and used for nearly 100 years.
In 1603, French explorer Samuel de Champlain landed in Canada for the first time.
In 1706, the government of New France banned Montreal residents from keeping pigs in their homes. They were also ordered to repair roads and build sidewalks at street corners.
In 1772, slavery was abolished in Britain.
In 1774, the "Quebec Act" was passed by the British Parliament, establishing French civil law and the British system of criminal law in Quebec. As well, Roman Catholics were to have religious freedom. It also enlarged the province's borders to include Newfoundland and territory south of the Great Lakes. The latter move enraged American settlers and contributed to the American Revolution which broke out two years later. The law was replaced in 1791.
In 1812, Napoleon Bonaparte ordered his army to attack Russia. On the same date three years later, Napoleon abdicated for the second and last time after his defeat at Waterloo.
In 1869, an act was passed establishing the government of the Northwest Territories, which then included much of the Prairies.
In 1870, scholars began translation work on the English Revised Version of the Bible.
In 1897, Queen Victoria celebrated her diamond jubilee after 60 years on the British throne.
In 1911, King George V was crowned at Westminster Abbey.
In 1937, Joe Louis began his reign as world heavyweight boxing champion by knocking out Jim Braddock in the eighth round of their fight in Chicago.
In 1938, Joe Louis knocked out Max Schmeling in the first round of their rematch at Yankee Stadium.
In 1940, Germany gained a stunning Second World War victory as France was forced to sign an armistice, eight days after German forces overran Paris. Exactly one year later, Germany invaded the Soviet Union.
In 1945, the Second World War battle for Okinawa ended with an Allied victory. Some 13,000 Americans and 90,000 Japanese soldiers, plus 130,000 civilians, were killed in the nearly three-month campaign.
In 1955, the laying of a transatlantic telephone cable began at Clarenville, Nfld.
In 1960, the Liberals won their first Quebec election in 16 years, defeating the Union Nationale and ushering in what became known as The Quiet Revolution under Premier Jean Lesage.
In 1969, singer and movie star Judy Garland died in London at age 47 of what was determined to be an accidental drug overdose. Garland gained stardom with her role as Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz” but is also known for such film classics as “A Star is Born” and “Easter Parade.”
In 1973, East and West Germany were admitted to the United Nations.
In 1976, the House of Commons approved, by just eight votes, a bill abolishing the death penalty. Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau called the decision a further step away from violence and barbarism. The last execution in Canada was in 1962.
In 1980, Kateri Tekakwitha, a Mohawk woman, became the first North American aboriginal to become a candidate for sainthood. Known as the "Lily of the Mohawks," she was born in what is now New York state in 1656. She was persecuted after being baptized in 1676 and she left home for a Christian native village at what is now Kahnawake. There she became known for her sanctity. She died in 1680 from an illness thought to be the result of her penitent lifestyle. Numerous miracles have been reported at her shrine in Kahnawake. (In 2012, she was made Canada's first native saint.)
In 1981, Mark David Chapman, a 25-year-old drifter, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the death of former "Beatle" John Lennon.
In 1982, a day after giving birth, Diana, Princes of Wales, left a London hospital with Prince Charles and their newborn son, who was later named William Arthur Philip Louis.
In 1987, Fred Astaire, America's greatest song and dance man, died in Los Angeles at age 88.
In 1990, Newfoundland Premier Clyde Wells indefinitely postponed the legislature's vote on the Meech Lake accord. Manitoba also failed to ratify the agreement, which expired the next day.
In 1997, Gerard Pelletier, a former Trudeau cabinet minister, died at age 78. Pelletier, Jean Marchand and Pierre Trudeau -- all Quebecers -- were known as the "Three Wise Men" when they were first elected to the House of Commons in 1965.
In 2000, Nova Scotia announced the sale of the financially crippled Sydney Steel Corporation to Switzerland's Duferco Group.
In 2001, Britain's parole board announced that two of the country's most notorious killers had been freed from prison. Jon Venables and Robert Thompson murdered two-year-old James Bulger near Liverpool in 1993.
In 2002, Ann Landers (Esther Lederer), the U.S. advice columnist who appeared in more than 1,200 newspapers daily, died at age 83.
In 2004, newspaper publisher Hollinger International Inc. sold Telegraph Group Ltd., which includes Britain's "Daily Telegraph," to the Barclay twin tycoons in a US$1.3-billion deal.
In 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered a formal apology and compensation for a racist head tax applied to Chinese immigrants between 1885-1923.
In 2007, Canada's first-ever F-5 tornado touched down in Elie, Man., carving a path of destruction more than six kilometres long and 300 metres wide. Miraculously, there were no fatalities despite winds of up to 400 km/h.
In 2008, Grammy Award-winning comedian and actor George Carlin died at age 71 in Los Angeles.
In 2009, at least nine people were killed and 76 injured after two subway trains collided during rush hour in Washington, D.C.'s transit system.
In 2009, Eastman Kodak Co. announced it was retiring Kodachrome because of declining customer demand in an increasingly digital age. The world's first commercially successful colour film, immortalized in song by Paul Simon, spent 74 years in Kodak's portfolio.
In 2010, Angela James and Cammi Granato became the first females elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
In 2011, the Conservative government released 4,000 of some 40,000 classified pages on the treatment of detainees in Afghanistan. The tabling was the culmination of almost a year of work by a panel of judges and MPs who sifted through mounds of material to determine which records could be released without endangering national security.
In 2012, former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, 68, was found guilty on 45 counts of sexually abusing 10 boys over a 15-year period. (In October, he was sentenced to at least 30 years in prison. An investigation into the child sex abuse scandal concluded that legendary coach Joe Paterno and three other top school officials concealed allegations against Sandusky.)
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(The Canadian Press)
The Canadian Press
