Today in History Oct. 11 – CP

Source: The Canadian Press – Broadcast wire
Oct 11, 2016 

Today in History for Oct. 11:

In 1521, Pope Leo X gave Henry VIII of England the title “Fidei Defensor,” or Defender of the Faith. Thirteen years later, Henry severed all ties with Rome to establish the Church of England.

In 1776, the first naval battle of Lake Champlain was fought during the American Revolution. American forces under Brig.-Gen. Benedict Arnold suffered heavy losses but managed to stall British forces led by Guy Carleton.

In 1797, British forces defeated the Dutch at the battle of Camperdown.

In 1809, just over three years after the famous Lewis and Clark expedition ended, Meriwether Lewis was found dead in a Tennessee inn, an apparent suicide. He was 35.

In 1811, inventor John Stevens put into operation the first steam ferry line in the world, running between New York City and Hoboken, N.J.

In 1868, American inventor Thomas Edison patented an electric voting machine.

In 1869, the Red River Rebellion began when a group led by Adam Clark Webb attempted to survey a field belonging to Andre Nault, a Metis, at St. Vital, Man. About 20 Metis led by Louis Riel prevented the work and forced Webb to leave, an act which sparked confrontations between Riel and the Canadian government.

In 1881, David Henderson Houston patented the first roll film for cameras.

In 1899, the Boer War began.

In 1900, Winston Churchill was first elected to the British House of Commons.

In 1911, the Ontario Hydro-Electric Power Commission’s transmission system was incorporated at Berlin, now Kitchener.

In 1914, Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral, one of the most noted Gothic cathedrals in Europe, was damaged during a First World War air raid.

In 1917, an order-in-council prohibited strikes and lockouts in Canada during the First World War.

In 1942, the RCMP ship “St. Roch,” under the command of Sgt. Henry Larson, arrived in Halifax after completing the first west-to-east crossing of the Northwest Passage. The “St. Roch,” a 31-metre motor schooner, began its voyage in Vancouver in 1940. One member of the eight-man crew died of a heart attack while the ship wintered in the ice less than 80 kilometres from the magnetic pole.

In 1949, Wilhelm Pieck became the first president of the East German Republic.

In 1952, CFBT in Montreal carried the first televised hockey game in Canada — Montreal versus Detroit.

In 1960, Ottawa announced a program to help low-income families obtain rental housing.

In 1968, “Apollo 7” was launched by the U.S. The first manned Apollo mission was the first in which live television broadcasts were received from orbit. Wally Schirra, Don Fulton Eisele and R. Walter Cunningham were the astronauts aboard.

In 1968, the founding convention of the Parti Quebecois began in Montreal. The new party, headed by Rene Levesque, said it would declare Quebec a sovereign state if it gained a majority of seats in the Quebec legislature. The 809 delegates adopted a program that guaranteed French as the only official language of Quebec.

In 1975, NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” was broadcast for the first time. George Carlin was the guest host.

In 1976, Mao Tse-tung’s widow, Chiang Ching, and three of her associates, were arrested in Peking on charges of plotting to overthrow the Chinese government.

In 1979, Cuban President Fidel Castro visited New York for the first time in 19 years.

In 1984, Kathryn Sullivan became the first U.S. woman to walk in space when she and astronaut David Leestma spent three hours working in the cargo hold of the space shuttle “Challenger.”

In 1984, Pittsburgh Penguins centre Mario Lemieux made his debut in the NHL against the Boston Bruins. He scored a goal on his first shot on his first shift.

In 1986, Barker Fairley, scholar, painter, poet and peace-activist, died in Toronto at the age of 99.

In 1996, three days after winning the Nobel Prize in economics, Canadian-born William Vickrey died in a car accident in New York at the age of 82.

In 1998, Pope John Paul II decreed the first Jewish-born saint of the modern era: Edith Stein, a nun killed in the gas chambers of Auschwitz.

In 2004, Finn Kydland of Norway and American Edward Prescott won the Nobel Prize for economics for groundbreaking theories that persuaded the Bank of Canada and other central banks to set long-term inflation targets and stamp out “stagflation.”

In 2005, Canadian mining giants Inco and Falconbridge announced plans to merge in a $12.5 billion deal — creating the world’s largest nickel firm.

In 2008, the Canadian Olympic Committee rewarded Beijing Olympic medal winners with cash for the first time in its history, presenting 34 athletes with cheques for their accomplishments. Canadian Olympians received $20,000 for each gold medal won, $15,000 for each silver and $10,000 for each bronze.

In 2010, Montreal Alouettes slotback Ben Cahoon caught the 1,007th pass of his career, breaking the CFL receiving record held by Terry Vaughn. (He retired at the end of the season with 1,017. In 2013, Geroy Simon surpassed Cahoon and retired with 1,029.)

In 2010, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre reached two milestones — he became the first NFL player to throw 500 touchdown passes and to reach 70,000 yards passing – though his three turnovers led to a 29-20 loss to the New York Jets on Monday Night Football.

In 2011, Kathy Dunderdale became the first woman elected premier of Newfoundland and Labrador as she led the Progressive Conservative party to its third-straight majority government. She took over nearly a year ago after the wildly popular Danny Williams quit politics.

In 2011, Premier Darrell Pasloski led the Yukon Party to its third straight majority in the territory’s election. He took over as head of the right-of-centre party in May when longtime premier Dennis Fentie announced his retirement.

In 2012, novelist Mo Yan, whose popular, sprawling, bawdy tales bring to life rural China, won the Nobel Prize for literature – the first time the award was given to a Chinese who is not a critic of the authoritarian government.

In 2013, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons won the Nobel Peace Prize for trying to destroy Syria’s stockpiles of nerve gas and other poisonous agents.

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(The Canadian Press)

(The Canadian Press)

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