Today in History for Dec. 9:
In 1608, English poet John Milton was born in London.
In 1755, the first post office in Canada opened in Halifax. A city stationer had begun an informal service the previous year, but in 1755 the British post office, in an attempt to improve military communication between Britain and North America, started a monthly packet run to New York. From there, any available vessel carried mail to Halifax, until 1788, when regular packets called in the port.
In 1824, Gen. Antonio de Sucre led independence forces to victory over the Spanish at Ayacucho, in Peru, to end Spain鈥檚 domination of South America.
In 1840, Scottish missionary explorer David Livingstone set sail on his first journey to Africa. He had been accepted to serve under the London Missionary Society two years earlier.
In 1854, Alfred Lord Tennyson鈥檚 famous poem, "The Charge of the Light Brigade," was published in England.
In 1858, Robert Baldwin, former joint premier of United Canada (Quebec and Ontario), died after a long illness near Toronto at the age of 54. He鈥檚 remembered as one of the first proponents of responsible government and of co-operation between English and French Canadians.
In 1892, "Widowers鈥� Houses," Bernard Shaw鈥檚 first play, opened at the Royalty Theatre in London.
In 1916, the Canadian Pacific Railway opened the eight-kilometre-long Connaught Tunnel near Revelstoke, B.C., the longest tunnel in Canada.
In 1935, Tenzin Gyat, the 14th Dalai Lama, was born in the Amdo province of Tibet.
In 1940, British troops opened their first major offensive in North Africa during the Second World War.
In 1941, China declared war on Japan, Germany and Italy.
In 1955, a mob of almost 3,000 mostly young people demonstrated against increased public transit fares in Montreal. Damage, estimated at $100,000, was done to 172 trams and 64 buses and more than 110 people were arrested.
In 1956, a Trans-Canada Airlines plane crashed on Mount Sclesse, near Hope, B.C. The 62 victims included five CFL players returning from the league鈥檚 All-Star Game in Vancouver -- Calvin Jones of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and four Saskatchewan Roughriders -- Mel Becket, Mario DeMarco, Ray Syrnyk and Gordon Sturtridge. The wreckage was found the following May.
In 1960, the first episode of "Coronation Street" aired in Britain.
In 1972, bush pilot Martin Hartwell was found alive in the Northwest Territories 32 days after his plane crashed. Three passengers died. It was later learned that Hartwell had eaten human flesh to stay alive.
In 1977, the crash of an executive jet in Labrador killed eight people, including four executives of the Churchill Falls hydro-electric corporation.
In 1983, Thomson Newspapers Ltd. and Southam Inc. were acquitted on conspiracy and merger charges laid in connection with a series of 1980 business deals that saw the closing of the Ottawa Journal and the Winnipeg Tribune.
In 1985, Canadian financier Conrad Black bought controlling interest of the "London Daily Telegraph."
In 1989, Charles Auguste Cadieux, founder of Woolco department stores, a division of F. W. Woolworth in Canada, and who was also known for his charitable work, died at age 81.
In 1990, Henry Hicks, a former Liberal premier of Nova Scotia in the 1950s, died in a car accident. He was 75.
In 1990, 32 Canadian hostages arrived in Frankfurt, Germany, after being released in Baghdad, Iraq.
In 1990, Pope John Paul canonized Margaret d鈥橸ouville, who founded the Grey Nuns, as Canada鈥檚 first saint.
In 1990, Lech Walesa was elected president of Poland by a huge majority.
In 1992, Charles and Diana, the Prince and Princess of Wales, announced their separation after 11 years of marriage. What was once thought to be a fairytale romance had long since crumbled. The couple divorced on Aug. 28, 1996 -- one year before Diana鈥檚 death in a Paris car crash.
In 1994, the Ukrainian cargo ship "Salvador Allende" sank in a storm in the mid-Atlantic, 900 kilometres south of Newfoundland, with the loss of 29 lives.
In 1996, plans were announced for Canada鈥檚 first aboriginal bank, the First Nations Bank of Canada, to provide services to both native and non-native customers.
In 1998, Shaughnessy Cohen, Liberal MP for the Ontario riding of Windsor-St. Clair, died after collapsing in the House of Commons. She was 50.
In 1998, Archie Moore, the world light heavyweight champion who set the record for knockouts during his 27-year career and the only boxer to fight both Rocky Marciano and Muhammad Ali, died at age 84.
In 1998, Sun Media accepted Quebecor Inc.鈥檚 offer of $983 million in cash, about $80 million more than Torstar鈥檚 bid for the newspaper publisher.
In 1999, scientists at the University of Ottawa Eye Institute of the Ottawa Hospital announced that for the first time they had grown functioning human corneas.
In 2002, Manulife launched a $6.4-billion takeover bid for Canada Life that would make it Canada鈥檚 biggest life insurer. The Canada Life board rejected the bid Dec. 13, saying "Manulife鈥檚 proposed offer does not reflect the value of the company."
In 2002, United Airlines, reeling from two years of heavy losses and unable to pay off nearly $1 billion in debt, filed for federal bankruptcy court protection. It was the largest such filing in aviation history. (It emerged from bankruptcy protection in February 2006.)
In 2002, Canada and United States signed an agreement under which U.S. troops would be able to come to Canada to aid in emergencies such as terrorist threats and natural disasters. Under the two-year, $35-million deal, Canadian Forces could be deployed in the United States in a crisis under American operational command.
In 2004, the Supreme Court of Canada said that the power to change the definition of marriage lay exclusively with the federal government, not the provinces, and that a proposed bill to legalize same-sex marriage was constitutional.
In 2006, five Vancouver Island First Nations initialled a treaty worth almost $500 million that included more than 24,000 hectares of land, some of it bordering the majestic Pacific Rim Park near Tofino, B.C.
In 2007, pig farmer Robert William Pickton was found guilty on six counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of women who disappeared from Vancouver鈥檚 Downtown Eastside. (He was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.) (In 2010, after the Supreme Court upheld his sentence, the 20 remaining first-degree murder charges were stayed because Pickton was already serving the maximum sentence.)
In 2008, the Bank of Canada reduced its key interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point, the biggest drop since October 2001, to 1.5 per cent, a level not seen since 1958, and declared for the first time that Canada had entered into a recession.
In 2008, Bob Rae withdrew himself from Liberal leadership contest clearing the way for Michael Ignatieff to be acclaimed as the party鈥檚 interim leader.
In 2008, Canada and the European Union signed a landmark agreement to ease restrictions on transatlantic air travel.
In 2016, South Korean lawmakers impeached President Park Geun-hye over an explosive corruption scandal, a stunning fall for the country's first female leader. (She was removed from office in March 2017 and formally convicted just over a year later and sentenced to 24 years in prison.)
In 2009, MPs in the House of Commons voted 253-37 in favour of a harmonized sales tax for Ontario and B.C. The Conservatives, Liberals and Bloc Quebecois supported the controversial measure, while the NDP opposed it. Just hours earlier, the Ontario legislature passed its own legislation and B.C. followed suit early in the new year. But in 2011, B.C. voters rescinded the tax in a referendum.
In 2011, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan sold its 80 per cent stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment - owners of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, Toronto FC and the Air Canada Centre - for $1.3 billion. Telecom rivals Rogers and Bell Canada teamed up to pay $1.07 billion for a 75 per cent stake while Larry Tanenbaum's Kilmer Sports raised its share to 25 per cent.
In 2013, American Airlines emerged from bankruptcy protection and US Airways culminated its long pursuit of a merger partner as the two completed their deal to create the world's biggest airline, American Airlines Group Inc.
In 2017, Toronto FC avenged 2016's MLS Cup final penalty shootout loss to Seattle by dominating the Sounders 2-0 in the championship rematch at BMO Field, becoming the first Canadian team to win the soccer title.
In 2017, the world premiere of "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" in Los Angeles. The eighth episode in the beloved space opera franchise took in $220 million in its first weekend in North American theatres 鈥� the second-best opening ever behind only its predecessor, "The Force Awakens" ($248.8 million).
In 2018, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady broke the NFL record for career touchdown passes including post-season. He threw his 580th touchdown at Miami when he connected with Julian Edelman for a two-yard score. That's one more TD pass than the previous record set by Peyton Manning.
In 2019, authorities said 16 people were killed after a volcano off the New Zealand coast erupted. Helicopter crews landed on White Island despite the danger and helped rescue dozens of survivors. The missing and injured included New Zealanders and tourists from the U-S, China, Australia, Britain and Malaysia. Some of the visitors were passengers from the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Ovation of the Seas. The disaster immediately raised questions about why people were allowed to visit the island about 50 kilometres off mainland New Zealand after scientists had noted an uptick in volcanic activity in recent weeks.
In 2020, British regulators warned people with a "significant history'' of allergic reactions not to get the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine after two people had adverse reactions on day one of the inoculation program. Both recipients suffered from severe allergies and carried a device like an Epi-pen, which they used and successfully recovered from the effects.
In 2020, Canada's ambassador to China Dominic Barton was allowed on-site, virtual consular access to Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor after months of COVID-19-related delays. The two men had been imprisoned in Beijing for two years by that point. Barton said they were in good health. The Chinese government had charged Kovrig and Spavor with espionage. The Canadian government said their detention was arbitrary and called for their release. (Kovrig and Spavor were released on September 24th 2021 and soon returned home to Canada.)
In 2020, Health Canada approved national use of Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine, clearing the way for the delivery of up to 249-thousand doses in December. Canada purchased 20-million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which requires people to receive two doses each, and had the option to buy 56-million more. The announcement made Canada the third country in the world to approve the vaccine.
In 2021, the federal auditor general revealed Canada failed to adequately enforce border measures designed to keep international travellers from importing cases of COVID-19. Auditor Karen Hogan assessed enforcement of quarantine and COVID-19 test mandates between July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021. She said the government only had records to verify 25 per cent of mandatory quarantine-hotel stays, and was missing or unable to match 30 per cent of COVID-19 test results to incoming travellers from February to June 2021.
In 2021, a jury convicted actor Jussie Smollett on five of six charges that he staged a racist, anti-gay attack on himself and lied to Chicago police about it. Two brothers testified Smollett orchestrated the hoax to get publicity and said he paid them to fake the January 2019 attack in downtown Chicago.
In 2021, former NFL player Demaryius Thomas was found dead in his suburban Atlanta home. He was 33. Thomas earned five straight Pro Bowl honours and a Super Bowl ring during a receiving career spent mostly with the Denver Broncos.
In 2022, the family of a Saskatchewan farmer who served two tours of duty with the Canadian military in Afghanistan said he was killed while fighting in Ukraine. Joseph Hildebrand of Herbert was 33. The family was notified by other people in his unit. A cousin said Hildebrand was apparently with 12 other soldiers on a mission around the city of Bakhmut, a key target of Russia's offensive in the eastern Donetsk region, and that only three of them made it back alive.
In 2023, coveted free agent Shohei Ohtani agreed to a record US$700-million, 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers following six seasons with the Angels. Jays fans had been hopeful he would sign with Toronto.
---
The Canadian Press
