Today in History for Dec. 19:
In 1813, fur trader James McGill died in Montreal, leaving 10,000 pounds to establish the university that would bear his name.
In 1813, a British-Canadian force took Fort Niagara in the War of 1812. The British took 300 prisoners. The first fort was a log structure surrounded by a palisade, built in 1687, at the mouth of the Niagara River. It was captured by the British from the French in 1759 and had been turned over to the United States in 1796.
In 1843, "A Christmas Carol," by Charles Dickens, was first published in England. The tale of Ebenezer Scrooge's spiritual conversion on Christmas Eve has been a Christmas classic ever since.
In 1846, in Canada's first telegraph message, the mayors of Toronto and Hamilton exchanged greetings.
In 1882, Egerton Ryerson, founder of the educational system in Ontario, died. He was 79.
In 1907, 239 workers died in a coal mine explosion in Jacobs Creek, Pa.
In 1917, the first National Hockey League games were played. All four teams played, with the Montreal Canadiens hosting the Toronto Arenas and the Ottawa Senators at home against the Montreal Wanderers. The league had been established three weeks before in Montreal. Quebec was also granted a franchise, but it did not operate in the first season. Either Dave Ritchie of the Montreal Wanderers or Joe Malone of the Montreal Canadiens scored the first NHL goal. The dispute comes down to the fact there is no remaining record of when exactly each game started.
In 1922, 24-year-old Theresa Vaughan confessed during her trial in Sheffield, England, to 61 bigamous marriages within a five-year period in 50 different cities in England, Germany and South Africa.
In 1932, the British Broadcasting Corporation began transmitting overseas with its Empire Service to Australia and New Zealand.
In 1941, Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler dismissed the commander of the German army and assumed the post himself two days later.
In 1941, Sergeant Major John Osborn of the Winnipeg Grenadiers won the Victoria Cross during the Second World War battle for Hong Kong. Osborn threw himself on a Japanese grenade and was killed instantly, but saved the lives of comrades.
In 1945, British aristocrat John Amery was hanged as a traitor to his country. After he pleaded guilty to eight counts of high treason at his trial, his court appearance lasted for just eight minutes. He had been charged with treasonous broadcasts -- inducing British subjects in captivity to fight for Germany against Britain and Russia, and with making public speeches on behalf of the enemy in Antwerp, Lyons, and Paris while France and Belgium were under enemy occupation. Amery was 33.
In 1946, war broke out in Indochina as troops under Ho Chi Minh launched widespread attacks against the French.
In 1949, Canada, Britain and the United States reached an agreement on the standardization of military arms and fighting methods.
In 1950, General Dwight D. Eisenhower was named commander of the military forces of NATO.
In 1966, the United Nations approved a treaty banning weapons in space.
In 1972, the "Apollo 17" spacecraft made a safe landing in the Pacific, ending the final moon flight of the U.S. space program.
In 1975, Bertha Wilson was appointed to the Ontario Court of Appeal, becoming the first woman in Canada to be named to a provincial court of appeal.
In 1977, Canada withdrew all government support for trade with South Africa because of the country's apartheid policies.
In 1982, exploding oil and gas tanks at an electric plant near Caracas, Venezuela, caused a massive blaze killing 145 people.
In 1984, Ted Hughes, winner of numerous poetry awards, was chosen to succeed the late Sir John Betjeman as Britain's poet laureate.
In 1984, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and China's Premier Zhao Ziyong signed an accord that would return Hong Kong to China on July 1, 1997, and preserve its capitalist system for 50 years beyond that date.
In 1986, Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, considered the father of the Soviet atom bomb, was released from internal exile. He had been banished to Gorky, 400 kilometres east of Moscow, on Jan. 22, 1980, after denouncing the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan in December 1979. Sakharov was never charged, tried before a court of law or convicted.
In 1994, the CRTC approved the $3.1-billion takeover of Maclean Hunter Ltd. by Rogers Communications Inc.
In 1997, James Cameron's movie "Titanic" opened. At the time, it was the most expensive movie ever made. It cost $200-million to make, but it grossed over $2-billion worldwide.
In 1997, a SilkAir Boeing 737-300 plunged from the sky, crashing into an Indonesian river and killing all 104 people aboard.
In 1998, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to impeach President Bill Clinton. The Senate acquitted Clinton the following Feb. 12th.
In 2002, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that property rights are a benefit of marriage, meaning that common-law partners cannot claim an equal division of matrimonial property if their relationship breaks down.
In 2003, design plans were unveiled for the signature skyscraper -- a 1,776-foot glass tower -- at the site of the World Trade Center in New York City. (Construction began in 2006 and it was opened in November 2014)
In 2008, U.S. President Bush announced US$17.4 billion in short-term financing to the troubled Big Three automakers.
In 2011, the Vatican announced that Kateri Tekakwitha, a Mohawk woman who died in 1680, passed the last test for sainthood, making her the first indigenous woman from North America to receive the honour. (She was canonized on Oct. 21, 2012).
In 2012, struggling photo pioneer Eastman Kodak announced it was selling its 1,100 digital imaging patents for about US$525 million to Apple Inc., Google Inc., Samsung Electronics Co., Research In Motion Ltd., Microsoft Corp., China's Huawei Technologies, Facebook Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.
In 2012, Park Geun-hye, daughter of former dictator Park Chung-hee from South Korea's authoritarian era, was elected the country's first female president. (In March 2017, she was removed from office following her impeachment over a corruption scandal. In April 2018, she was formally convicted and sentenced to 24 years in prison.)
In 2014, Craig Ferguson ended his decade-long run as host of CBS's "The Late Late Show." (British actor-writer-comedian James Corden took over as host on March 9, 2015.)
In 2016, two Islamic extremists plowed a semi-trailer into a crowded Christmas market in central Berlin, killing 12 people and injuring 48 others. The truck's passenger died as paramedics were treating him. The driver escaped and after an intensive manhunt was killed in a shootout with police in Milan on Dec. 23.
In 2017, George Weston Ltd. and Loblaw Companies Ltd. revealed that both the bakery owner and grocer participated in an industry-wide bread price-fixing arrangement from late 2001 until March 2015, but will receive immunity after tipping off Canada's competition watchdog.
In 2017, a Canadian woman was among 12 people killed when a bus carrying cruise ship passengers to the Mayan ruins flipped over on a narrow highway in eastern Mexico. Her husband and two young daughters were among the 20 injured.
In 2017, the Toronto Maple Leafs downed the Carolina Hurricanes 8-1 in the Next Century Game in Toronto to kick off the second century of NHL hockey.
In 2018, Global Affairs Canada said it was providing assistance to the family of a third Canadian detained in China. It did not release the person's name or hometown, but officials said the government had no reason to believe the case is linked to the then-recent detention of two other Canadians in China tied to the arrest of senior Chinese tech executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver.
In 2018, a three-judge panel of the B.C. Appeal Court said the RCMP's conduct in its investigation of an alleged bomb plot at the provincial legislature was a "travesty of justice" when officers continued to pursue the case against a couple who didn't have the means to commit an act of terrorism on their own. The judges unanimously upheld a lower court finding that John Nuttall and Amanda Korody were manipulated by police to conduct the terror operation on Canada Day 2013.
In 2018, police laid new sexual assault charges against five teenaged boys from St. Michael's College School in Toronto. Four of them were already facing sexual assault charges in a separate incident at the elite all-boys school. Two of those previously charged are also accused of assault and assault with a weapon in a third incident. Police investigated eight incidents that took place at the private Catholic school and laid charges in connection with three of them.
In 2020, Canada surpassed 500,000 cases of COVID-19 as infections continued to surge in several provinces. The latest 100,000 cases racked up in just 15 days, marking the shortest growth period since the pandemic was declared in March. It took six months for Canada to register its first 100,000 cases of the virus.
In 2023, Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault released the finalized regulations for Canada's new mandate on electric vehicles, guiding the transition away from gas-fired cars, trucks and SUVs. Automakers were given 12 years to phase out combustion engines, with a requirement to gradually increase the proportion of electric models for sale each year.
In 2023, tens of thousands of people were without power in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia after a wind storm battered the East Coast.
In 2023, the federal government said it planned to buy 11 drones for the Royal Canadian Air Force for $2.49 billion. Ottawa said the deal is with U.S.-based General Atomics Aeronautical Systems with some components acquired from the U.S. government. The drones are to be used for long-distance surveillance.
In 2023, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was named The Canadian Press 2023 Newsmaker of the Year in the annual poll of broadcast news directors and newspaper editors. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Manitoba's newly elected Premier Wab Kinew tied for second.
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The Canadian Press
