Today in History for Dec. 31:
In 1600, Queen Elizabeth I granted the British East India Co. a monopoly on all trade to the East Indies.
In 1687, the first shipload of emigrating Huguenots (French Protestants) left France for South Africa.
In 1712, Peter Bohler, the Moravian missionary who influenced the religious spirit of John Wesley, was born. Bohler taught the founder of Methodism the joys of personal conversion and self-surrendering faith. Wesley later incorporated these spiritual emphases within Methodist theology.
In 1719, John Flamsteed, father of modern astronomy, died. He was born in 1646 in Denby, Derbyshire, England.
In 1775, the British repulsed an American force led by generals Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold at Quebec City. The Americans began the attack in a pre-dawn blizzard but were driven back by the British under the command of Gov. Guy Carleton. He was aided by some Highland soldiers, Newfoundland fishermen, crews from British ships and French and British-Canadian militiamen. Montgomery was killed in the battle.
In 1857, Ottawa was chosen as the capital of Canada by Queen Victoria. She was asked to settle rival claims of Quebec, Montreal, Toronto and Kingston, each of which had been temporary capitals. Legend has it that Victoria simply put her finger on the map midway between Montreal and Toronto. In fact, her choice was mainly dictated by military considerations, Ottawa being far removed from the threat of U.S. invasion.
In 1860, Canada's first railway tunnel was opened in Brockville, Ont.
In 1869, French painter Henri Matisse was born.
In 1879, American inventor Thomas Edison first publicly demonstrated his electric incandescent light in Menlo Park, N.J.
In 1884, beautician and cosmetics manufacturer Elizabeth Arden was born Florence Nightingale Graham in Woodbridge, Ont. She began her business empire with a New York beauty salon in 1910. She died in 1966.
In 1890, Ellis Island opened as a U.S. immigration depot.
In 1891, a woman defeated an experienced male boxer in Indianapolis to win $500.
In 1899, Eva Mudge Nelson became the first woman in the United States to drive an automobile. During a race in New York City, her "locomobile" skidded on snow and hit five spectators.
In 1908, Holocaust survivor and Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal was born in Buczacs in what was then Austria-Hungary.
In 1931, Henderson Lake, B.C. finished the year with 800 cm (319.78 inches) of rain. It's the wettest place on record in Canadian history.
In 1946, U.S. President Harry S. Truman officially proclaimed the end of the Second World War.
In 1975, in what's considered among the most exciting hockey games ever played, the Soviet Red Army club tied the Montreal Canadiens 3-3 at the Montreal Forum. The Habs outshot their visitors 38-13.
In 1978, Taiwanese diplomats struck their colours for the final time from the embassy flagpole in Washington, marking the end of diplomatic relations with the U.S.
In 1979, 48 people died when fire destroyed a crowded dance hall at a New Year's Eve party in Chapais, Que.
In 1980, Canadian communications theorist and writer Marshall McLuhan died at age 69. His revolutionary and often misunderstood communications theories have been compared to the works of Darwin and Freud for their universal importance. McLuhan established worldwide recognition in 1964 for his book "Understanding Media," which studied the changes in human perception caused by electronic communications. He coined the phrase "the medium is the message."
In 1985, Suzanne Blais-Grenier resigned as federal minister of state for transport one day after publicly criticizing the government's decision to allow Ultramar Canada to buy the Quebec and East Coast refining and marketing network of Gulf Canada and, as part of that deal, to close the Gulf refinery in Montreal.
In 1986, a fire at the 21-storey DuPont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, killed 96 people including two women from Toronto.
In 1988, Mario Lemieux tallied eight points and became the first NHL player to score a goal in all five possible situations in a game - even-strength, powerplay, shorthanded, penalty shot, empty net.
In 1991, representatives of the government of El Salvador and rebels reached agreement on a peace accord aimed at ending 12 years of civil war.
In 1991, a six-week occupation of the Canadian Embassy in Haiti by a group of young Haitians belonging to the Haitian Liberation Organization came to an end after they surrendered to police.
In 1999, an eight-day standoff ended peacefully at Kandahar airport in Afghanistan as five hijackers of an Indian Airlines plane left for an undisclosed destination after the Indian government released two militants and an Islamic cleric from Indian jails in exchange for the freedom of 155 hostages, including a Canadian woman. One passenger was stabbed to death during the hijacking.
In 1999, Boris Yeltsin announced his resignation as President of Russia. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin immediately took control of the government as acting president, then was elected to the office a few months later.
In 2008, The "Royal Canadian Air Farce," the venerable political sketch show, wrapped up its 16-season television run with a special on CBC. The show got its start in 1973 on CBC Radio.
In 2009, a massive fire swept through an upscale Bangkok nightclub, killing more than 60 people, including a Canadian, and injuring more than 200 others.
In 2020, China gave conditional approval to a COVID-19 vaccine developed by state-owned Sinopharm. The vaccine is the first one approved for general use in China. The vaccine is an inactivated, two-dose vaccine from the Beijing Institute of Biological Products, a subsidiary of state-owned conglomerate Sinopharm.
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The Canadian Press
