Today in History for Aug. 17:
On this date:
In 1502, Christopher Columbus took possession of what is now Honduras in the name of Spain.
In 1761, William Carey, pioneer English missionary to India, was born. He taught at the newly founded Fort William College of Calcutta from 1801 until his death, and helped found the Serampore Press, which made the Bible accessible to over 300 million people.
In 1786, Frederick the Great, king of Prussia, died in the arms of his valet. During his reign (1740-1786), he had managed to transform Prussia from a European backwater to an economically strong and politically reformed state.
In 1896, the discovery that led to the Klondike gold rush was made. George Washington Carmack and two Indian companions, Skookum Jim and Tagish Charlie, found gold at Rabbit Creek, a tributary of the Yukon's Klondike River. After news of the strike reached the outside world, thousands of miners poured into the territory. It's estimated more than $100 million in gold was recovered in the region during the next eight years.
In 1896, Bridget Driscoll of Croydon, Surrey, became the first pedestrian to be knocked down and killed by a motor vehicle in Britain. The car that hit Mrs. Driscoll was travelling at 6 km/h.
In 1904, Ford of Canada began building cars in a converted wagon works in Walkerville, near Windsor, Ont. The 17 workers assembled a total of 114 cars in the first year.
In 1913, the Ontario government barred the teaching of French in the province's schools past grade one.
In 1915, a hurricane killed 275 people at Galveston, Texas.
In 1920, Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians became the only player to die from injuries received in a major league baseball game. Chapman was hit in the temple the previous day by a pitch from the New York Yankees' Carl Mays.
In 1936, the Union Nationale, led by Maurice Duplessis, won a Quebec election, taking 76 seats to the Liberals' 14. He was defeated in 1939, but he returned to power in 1944 and retained control of Quebec until his death on Sept. 7, 1959. His Union Nationale government changed the face of Quebec society, asserting the authority of the state over the Roman Catholic Church and striving for autonomy for Quebec within Confederation.
In 1940, Prime Minister Mackenzie King and U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt agreed at a two-day meeting in Ogdensburg, N.Y., to set up a Canadian-American defence commission. The Permanent Joint Board of Defence was composed of senior officials from both countries and dealt with issues including the delivery of arms from U.S. factories to Canadian forces and free exchanges of defence information.
In 1943, Allied forces gained control of Sicily during the Second World War.
In 1944, Indonesia proclaimed its independence from the Netherlands.
In 1944, British bombers staged one of the great fire raids of the Second World War, dumping 70,000 incendiaries on the German ports of Kiel and Stettin.
In 1945, the Kellock Royal Commission inquiry into the Halifax VE-Day riots -- when soldiers turned violent while celebrating the end of the Second World War -- blamed the Halifax naval command for not controlling its personnel.
In 1951, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company inaugurated its microwave radio relay system for transmitting telephone calls and television programs between New York City and San Francisco.
In 1969, hurricane Camille slammed into the Mississippi coast as a Category 5 storm with top sustained winds estimated at nearly 320 km/h. The hurricane and resulting flash floods were blamed for 256 deaths.
In 1970, the Soviet Union launched the "Venus VII" for exploration of the planet Venus.
In 1975, the Soviet nuclear-powered icebreaker "Artika" became the first surface ship to reach the North Pole.
In 1978, the first successful trans-Atlantic balloon flight ended as Maxie Anderson, Ben Abruzzo and Larry Newman landed their "Double Eagle II" outside Paris.
In 1980, the United States began placing armed marshals aboard some flights in a bid to stop hijackings to Cuba by homesick refugees. Six U.S. flights had been diverted the week earlier to Cuba, including three on Aug. 16.
In 1987, Rudolph Hess, Adolf Hitler's ex-deputy, hung himself in the Spandau prison in West Berlin. Hess spent the last 20 years of his life as the sole inmate of Spandau. He was 93.
In 1988, Jeffrey MacInnis, 25, of Toronto and Michael Beedell, 32, of Ottawa sailed a catamaran through the Northwest Passage, the first to navigate the route powered only by the wind.
In 1989, an Australian commercial airliner became the first to fly non-stop from London to Sydney.
In 1992, Rev. Stan McKay, a Cree from north of Winnipeg, was elected the first native moderator of the United Church of Canada.
In 1994, Queen Elizabeth opened the University of Northern British Columbia in Prince George, the first new university to open in Canada in 25 years and the only in northern B.C. The nationally televised event attracted 10,000 people to the campus.
In 1996, TWA Flight 800 exploded shortly after leaving New York City for Paris, killing all 230 people on board.
In 1996, Ruth Perry became Africa's first woman head of state. She was chosen by West African heads of state to chair Liberia's ruling council.
In 1998, U.S. President Bill Clinton gave historic testimony to a criminal grand jury about his sexual affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. He was the first American president to be questioned by a criminal grand jury.
In 1998, an armed standoff in the Gaspe by Mi'kmaq factions and Quebec governments over native timber rights ended after a compromise deal was reached. The deal gave a total of 30,000 cubic metres of wood to Listiguj reserve.
In 1999, a massive earthquake measuring 7.8 in magnitude hit northwestern Turkey, killing more than 17,000 people and injuring more than 43,000. Shoddy construction was the main reason for the soaring death toll. Izmit and Golcuk suffered the most damage.
In 2008, American swimmer Michael Phelps became the first person to win eight gold medals at a single Olympic games, teaming with three others to win the 4x100 medley relay at the Beijing Games. He beat the previous record of seven held by Mark Spitz.
In 2009, the Canada Line, Vancouver's new rapid transit line and the first to link a major Canadian city to its airport, opened with a day of free riding.
In 2017, a van deliberately veered onto a sidewalk and sped down a pedestrian zone in Barcelona's historic tourist district, killing 13 people — including one Canadian. Four Canadians were among the 120 injured. ISIS claimed responsibility. The driver was the subject of a massive manhunt and was gunned down on Aug. 21 in Subirats, a small town 45 kilometres west of the city.
In 2018, the Transportation Safety Board said three people had been killed in a light plane crash at a remote Northwest Territories lake. The Cessna 206 that crashed at Little Doctor Lake was operated by Simpson Air.
In 2018, the Quebec government said it would dole out cheques ranging from $1,000 to $46,700 per permit to compensate taxi drivers who'd seen the value of their permits plummet since the arrival of ride-hailing service Uber in the province.
In 2020, after 10 years of court proceedings and negotiations, the Toronto Police Services Board settled a class-action lawsuit filed over mass arrests at the G20 Summit in 2010. The deal meant about 1,100 people arrested during the summit would share a $16.5-million settlement. In addition to compensation, the deal also included a public acknowledgment by police regarding the mass arrests and detention conditions, as well as a commitment to changing how protests are policed in future.
In 2020, the CFL cancelled its 2020 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision made 2020 the first year since 1919 that the Grey Cup wasn't awarded. The move came after the league couldn't solve a number of issues in an effort to try to salvage a season, including to secure financing from the federal government. The league had asked for a $30-million interest-free loan.
In 2020, Canada named a new ambassador to Lebanon. Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said Chantal Chastenay would take over the job from Emmanuelle Lamoureux.
In 2020, Bill Morneau resigned as the federal finance minister and a Liberal MP. Opposition parties had been calling for Morneau's resignation for weeks, over allegations that he had a conflict of interest in the WE Charity affair. Morneau said he would put his name forward as a candidate to lead the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. He denied that the prime minister had asked him to resign.
In 2021, two more flights from Afghanistan landed in Canada. The planes carried diplomats and special forces troops as well as an unknown number of refugees fleeing the Taliban. The flights came after order was restored at the Kabul airport following a chaotic two days that saw thousands of desperate Afghans rushing onto the tarmac as the Taliban took control of the city and country.
In 2021, Justin Trudeau revealed that all Canadian diplomats had left Afghanistan. Trudeau said a total of nine flights out of Afghanistan had arrived in Canada in recent weeks. The Department of National Defence confirmed earlier that one Toronto-bound aircraft was carrying Afghans admitted through a special immigration program for former interpreters and others. An Ottawa-bound plane carried Canadian diplomats and special forces troops.
In 2023, an evacuation order was issued for Yellowknife and some of the surrounding area, as wildfires threatened the city. With the help of cooler temperatures fire crews eventually managed to hold the blaze about 15 kilometres outside of city limits.
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The Canadian Press