Today in History for Sept. 3:
In 590, St. Gregory the Great was consecrated the 64th Catholic pope, ruling 14 years. His administration took responsibility for converting the Anglo-Saxon tribes in England, chiefly through the work of St. Augustine of Canterbury.
In 1189, Richard I -- known as "Richard the Lionhearted" -- was crowned King of England.
In 1609, English explorer Henry Hudson and his crew aboard the "Half Moon" entered present-day New York Harbor and began sailing up the river that now bears his name. (They reached present-day Albany before turning back.)
In 1658, Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland, died at age 59. Cromwell led the parliamentary forces during the English Civil War and oversaw the execution of Charles I. He then ruled as a virtual dictator, imposing his puritanical beliefs on the country.
In 1783, Britain, France, Spain and the United States signed the "Treaty of Paris," ending the American revolutionary war. It also set up the boundary between Canada and the U.S.
In 1879, the Toronto Industrial Exhibition, later to become the Canadian National Exhibition, opened for the first time.
In 1894, Labour Day was first celebrated in Canada and the United States to honour working men and women. The contribution of organized labour to Canadian society has been recognized since 1872 when parades and rallies were staged in Ottawa and Toronto. Parliament proclaimed the first Monday in September as Labour Day.
In 1934, in London, Evangeline Cory Booth, the seventh child of founder William Booth, became the fourth elected commander and the first woman general of the Salvation Army at age 69.
In 1939, Britain and France declared war on Nazi Germany two days after its invasion of Poland. Winston Churchill was named First Lord of the Admiralty in the British war cabinet.
In 1940, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced that 50 destroyers would be traded to Britain for leases on naval and air bases in the British colonies. Canada was closely linked with the agreement since St. John's, Nfld., was declared one such base. Canada also sheltered the American destroyers in its ports before they were handed over to British crews.
In 1943, Canadian and British infantry crossed the Strait of Messina to begin the advance up the Italian peninsula during the Second World War.
In 1962, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker officially opened the Trans-Canada Highway from the summit of Rogers Pass, B.C. Total cost of the world's longest national highway, which stretched 7,821 kilometres from St. John's, Nfld., to Victoria, B.C., was more than $1 billion. The target for completion was 1956, but the highway was not finished until 1970.
In 1969, Ho Chi Minh, president of North Vietnam, died. He was born in 1890 in Hoang Tru in rural Vietnam.
In 1970, legendary football coach Vince Lombardi, 57, died in Washington, D.C.
In 1976, the Canadian Bar Association passed a resolution at its annual convention calling for the creation of unified family courts in Canada to deal with all legal issues in a marriage breakup and legal representation for children in matrimonial disputes. In 1977, Ontario was the first province to introduce a unified family court.
In 1976, the unmanned U.S. spacecraft "Viking 2" landed on Mars to take the first close-up, colour photographs of its surface.
In 1978, Pope John Paul I was installed as the 264th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. (However, he died less than a month later.)
In 1979, CFMT-TV, Toronto, became Canada's first full-time commercial multi-lingual TV station.
In 1984, a bomb exploded in a locker at the Montreal railway station, killing three people and injuring 25 others.
In 1989, one pilot died after two jets from the Armed Forces' Snowbirds aerobatic team touched wingtips and crashed into Lake Ontario during the annual Canadian National Exhibition air show in Toronto.
In 1991, Oscar winning director Frank Capra died at his home in California at the age of 94. Among his works: "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" and "It's a Wonderful Life," which both starred Jimmy Stewart.
In 1995, one of Canada's greatest poets, Earle Birney, died in Toronto at age 91. He had been born in Calgary in 1904, when it was still part of the Northwest Territories. He won his first Governor General’s medal for his 1942 book "David and Other Poems." He wrote love poetry, novels, television and stage plays and taught at the University of British Columbia and the University of Toronto.
In 1998, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled people who have dangerous sexually transmitted diseases must not have unprotected sex without telling their partner about their conditions and that violators could be prosecuted.
In 1999, dense fog and high speed caused a 63-vehicle highway pile-up near Windsor, Ont. -- killing eight people and sending dozens more to hospital.
In 1999, French magistrates closed the book on the 1997 Paris car crash that killed Princess Diana and her companion, Dodi Al-Fayed. They ruled driver Henri Paul was to blame and that the accident was caused by a combination of drugs, alcohol and speed. They said there were no grounds to charge the nine photographers and a press motorcyclist who were chasing Diana at the time.
In 2000, Pope John Paul II beatified the much-attacked Pope Pius IX (1846-1878) who, during history's longest papacy, confined Jews to Rome's ghetto. Jews protested bitterly against this beatification. He also beatified the much-beloved Pope John XXIII (1958-63), who started the church's liberalization of the 1960s.
In 2004, Russian commandos stormed a school in Beslan, in North Ossetia, and battled Chechen separatists holding more than 1,200 people hostage, ending the 53-hour siege in a bloodbath. At least 350 people were killed, nearly half of them children. The hostage-takers had been demanding independence for Chechnya.
In 2006, four Canadian soldiers were killed in clashes at the start of "Operation Medusa," a massive anti-Taliban offensive into the Panjwaii region in Afghanistan. Sgt. Shane Stachnik, Warrant Officer Frank Robert Mellish, Pte. William Cushley and Warrant Officer Richard Francis Nolan were all based at CFB Petawawa in Ontario.
In 2008, Major League Baseball used instant replay for the first time to uphold an on field call of a home run for Alex Rodriguez during the ninth inning of the New York Yankees game against the Tampa Bay Rays.
In 2008, Cpl. Andrew Grenon, Cpl. Mike Seggie and Pte. Chad Horn, all members of 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry battle group, based in Shilo, Man, were killed in an insurgent assault on their armoured vehicle while they were on a security patrol in the Zhari district of the southern Kandahar province.
In 2009, Saad Khalid, 23, a member of the Toronto 18 terrorist group that planned to bomb targets in downtown Toronto, was sentenced to 14 years in prison. (It was later increased to 20 years.)
In 2011, at least 59 people were killed by Typhoon Talas, which lashed Japan's coastal areas with destructive winds and record-setting rains. The destruction added more misery to a nation still reeling from a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami six months earlier.
In 2012, Unification Church patriarch Rev. Sun Myung Moon, a self proclaimed messiah who held mass weddings and created a business empire, died at age 92, two weeks after being hospitalized with pneumonia.
In 2013, Ariel Castro, the man who just began serving a life sentence for kidnapping three women and repeatedly raping them in his Cleveland home for nearly a decade, was found hanging in his cell in what was later determined a suicide.
In 2018, Nike revealed a new advertising campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick, the former NFL quarterback who sparked a movement by kneeling during the national anthem to protest injustice in America. Despite a backlash that included some people burning their runners, a digital commerce research company found Nike sales surged 31 per cent over the Labour Day weekend.
In 2018, a Myanmar court sparked international outrage when it sentenced two Reuters journalists to seven years in prison on charges of illegal possession of official documents. The journalists had been reporting on the brutal crackdown on Rohingya Muslims when they were charged with violating the colonial-era Official Secrets Act. They said they were framed by police and appealed their conviction.
In 2019, stage and screen actress Carol Lynley died at the age of 77. Lynley's daughter Jill Selsman said her mother died in her sleep in Los Angeles. Lynley appeared in more than 100 films and television series, but her best-known role was as pop singer Nonnie Parry in 1972's "The Poseidon Adventure." Her character performed the song "The Morning After" -- although the vocals in the film were dubbed. The song went on to win an Academy Award. Lynley had numerous guest appearances on television series including "Fantasy Island," "The Love Boat" and "Hawaii Five-O."
In 2020, UNICEF Canada said the country ranked 30th out of 38 countries when it comes to the physical and mental well-being of children and youth. The UN agency said it is shocking that Canada ranks lower than most other nations on issues ranging from suicide rate to childhood obesity to infant mortality.
In 2020, the Brooklyn Nets named Canadian Steve Nash as the team's new head coach. During his playing career, the B.C. native was an eight-time NBA all-star and two-time most valuable player.
In 2020, the parliamentary budget officer said the federal government shortchanged provinces on their equalization payments over the past decade to the tune of $14.5 billion. The payments are required under the Constitution to make sure everyone has reasonably comparable public services.
In 2020, the Canadian Space Agency got its first permanent female president. Lisa Campbell took over at a time when countries around the world are racing for the stars. Campbell is a longtime federal public servant who previously managed billions of dollars in planned military equipment purchases. She told The Canadian Press that space funding by government and the private sector continued through the pandemic.
In 2021, Alberta reinstated a provincewide mask mandate in all indoor public spaces and workplaces, except in classrooms, in response to concerns over the spread of COVID-19. All licensed bars, restaurants, and pubs had to stop alcohol sales by 10 p.m. and all businesses were being asked to rethink having staff return to work. Premier Jason Kenney also offered a $100 gift card to those over 18 who got their first or second COVID-19 vaccination.
In 2022, an extremist group in Somalia killed at least 20 people and burned seven vehicles that were transporting food in the Hiran region. Somalia's government condemned al-Shabab's "barbaric'' attack, saying it was devastating for communities dealing with severe drought. The country's drought envoy said al-Shabab also blew up wells for water in Hiran in recent days.
In 2022, a manhunt was underway for two suspects after a series of stabbings left 10 people dead in Saskatchewan. RCMP Assistant Commissioner Rhonda Blackmore said at least another 15 people had been injured in the attacks on the James Smith Cree Nation and in the village of Weldon. RCMP were looking for 31-year-old Damien Sanderson and 30-year-old Myles Sanderson.
In 2022, Canada won the women's world hockey championship after defeating archrival United States 2-1 in the final. Brianne Jenner scored twice and goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens made 20 saves for the win. The Canadians halted a run of five world straight titles by the U.S. in Calgary last year with a 3-2 overtime win, and also beat the Americans 3-2 in February's Olympic final in Beijing.
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The Canadian Press