Today in History for Dec. 18:
In 1707, English hymn writer Charles Wesley was born. He wrote more than 6,500 hymns, including "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing."
In 1787, New Jersey became the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
In 1865, the 13th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, abolishing slavery, went into effect.
In 1889, the first CPR telegraph junction with the Atlantic cable was made at Canso, N.S.
In 1890, the first electric underground rail line opened in London.
In 1897, the Geographic Board of Canada was created by an order-in-council.
In 1901, the Territorial Grain Grower's Association was organized at Indian Head, Sask. It was founded by William Richard Motherwell in a bid to get the farmer's bumper crop to market. Prairie farmers were in crisis because twice as much wheat had been produced as there had been the previous year. Because the CPR was not prepared to handle the extra load, almost three-quarters of the crop spoiled. The organization later became known as the United Grain Growers. On Nov. 1, 2001, it officially merged with Agricore to become Agricore United, one of Western Canada's leading farmer-directed agri-businesses.
In 1904, Wilf Carter, the father of country music in Canada, was born in Port Hilford, N.S. His 1932 recording of "My Swiss Moonlight Lullaby" and "The Capture of Albert Johnson" was the first hit by a Canadian country performer. He died at his home in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Dec. 5, 1996.
In 1927, former governor general Romeo LeBlanc was born in Memramcook, N.B. He was the first Acadian to be appointed governor general of Canada and a central figure in the Liberal party for more than two decades. He was also instrumental in establishing Canada's 200-mile offshore economic zone and helped shape the International Law of the Sea. LeBlanc became a senator in 1984, was appointed Speaker of the Senate in 1993 and became governor general in 1995. He died after a lengthy illness on June 24, 2009.
In 1940, Adolf Hitler signed a secret directive ordering preparations for a Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union during the Second World War. The invasion was launched the following June 22.
In 1950, the Second Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry landed in Pusan, South Korea. It was the first Canadian combat unit to reach the peninsula during the Korean War.
In 1956, Japan was admitted to the United Nations.
In 1957, shipping port Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania, the first public, full-scale commercial nuclear facility to generate electricity in the United States, went on line. (It was taken out of service in 1982.)
In 1958, the world's first communications satellite, SCORE (Signal Communication by Orbiting Relay Equipment), nicknamed "Chatterbox," was launched by the United States aboard an Atlas rocket.
In 1968, British sculptor Henry Moore announced a donation of as many as 600 of his works to the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto. Moore's work, displayed in its own wing at the gallery, is in wood, stone, and cement and known for its smooth, organic shape. Favourite subjects include mother and child and a reclining figure. He died in 1986.
In 1969, the British Parliament voted for the permanent abolition of the death penalty.
In 1971, more than $1 million was stolen from a Windsor, Ont., branch of the Royal Bank. Six people were arrested several days later.
In 1972, the United States resumed bombing attacks above the 20th parallel of North Vietnam. Hundreds of U.S. planes, including B52 bombers, made some of the heaviest raids of the war against the Hanoi-Haiphong area. The bombardment ended 12 days later.
In 1974, air traffic to and from Montreal was curtailed after 275 maintenance workers at three area airports walked off the job.
In 1979, Pierre Trudeau announced that he was postponing his retirement from politics. Trudeau said he accepted his party's request to stay on as leader because he felt a duty to the party and to Canada. He went on to lead the Liberals to a majority election victory over Joe Clark's Progressive Conservatives in February 1980.
In 1980, Alexei Kosygin, premier of the Soviet Union for 16 years before he resigned on Oct. 23, 1980, died at age 76.
In 1986, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld Ontario's restrictions on Sunday shopping.
In 1991, General Motors, the largest U.S. automaker, announced it would close 21 of its 125 North American assembly and parts-making plants and eliminate 70,000 jobs -- nearly 18 per cent of its U.S. workforce.
In 1993, Grace Hartman, former national president of CUPE, the first woman to lead a major national union, died at age 75.
In 1997, the Nova Scotia government apologized for the 1992 Westray mine explosion that killed 26 miners.
In 1998, former Nova Scotia premier and federal cabinet minister Gerald Regan was acquitted in Halifax of eight sex-related charges dating back more than two decades.
In 2000, Vice-Admiral Harry DeWolf, Canada's most decorated naval officer who sank or damaged 14 German ships in the English Channel in 1944, died at age 97.
In 2001, the Senate passed the Chretien government's anti-terrorist legislation, which gave police wide new powers of arrest, detention and surveillance.
In 2002, Ray Hnatyshyn, Canada's 24th governor-general (1990-1995), and a former PC cabinet minister, died of cancer at the age of 68.
In 2003, cross-country skier Beckie Scott of Vermilion, Alta., was awarded the gold medal for a race at the 2002 Olympic Games after the Russian winner was stripped of the medal for doping infractions.
In 2003, Lee Boyd Malvo was found guilty of murder and terrorism charges in connection with sniper attacks in Washington, D.C. area. (He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.)
In 2007, former Supreme Court of Canada judge Gerald Le Dain died at age 83.
In 2008, Theoneste Bagosora, a former Rwandan army colonel behind the 1994 slaughter of more than 500,000 people, was convicted of genocide and sentenced to life in prison by the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
In 2009, Charles Gibson retired from ABC after more than three decades with the network. He anchored “World News” since 2006, and was a co-host of "Good Morning America" for much of the 20 years before that. Diane Sawyer replaced him as anchor of "World News."
In 2009, New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur set an NHL record for most regular season games played by a goaltender, passing Patrick Roy with his 1,030th appearance. He finished his career 1,266 regular season and 205 playoff games. (Brodeur also holds the NHL records for regular season wins and shutouts.)
In 2010, in a historic vote for gay rights, the U.S. Senate agreed to do away with the military's 17-year ban on openly gay troops, overturning the Clinton-era policy of "don't ask, don't tell." U.S. President Barack Obama signed it into law four days later.
In 2010, Cpl. Steve Martin, from 3rd Battalion Royal 22e Regiment, was killed by an IED while on foot patrol in Afghanistan, two days before his 25th birthday.
In 2011, the last convoy of heavily armoured U.S. troops left Iraq, crossing into Kuwait in darkness in the final moments of a nine-year war.
In 2011, Vaclav Havel, the dissident playwright who became Czechoslovakia's first democratically elected president, leading it through the early challenges of democracy and its peaceful 1993 breakup into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, died at age 75.
In 2014, after nine years, Stephen Colbert retired his Comedy Central satirical news show "The Colbert Report" and his character of an outraged, conservative commentator who served as host. (In May 2015, Colbert took over as host of CBS's "Late Show" replacing the retired David Letterman.)
In 2016, Zsa Zsa Gabor, the jet-setting Hungarian-born actress and socialite who helped to invent the celebrity-dominated tabloid culture with multiple marriages, conspicuous wealth and jaded wisdom about the glamorous life, died at age 99.
In 2017, the high-profile closure and ensuing controversies helped make Sears Canada's demise the Canadian Press 2017 Business News Story of the Year.
In 2017, an Amtrak train on its inaugural run along a new high-speed bypass derailed south of Seattle as it curved on a bridge, hurtling some rail cars onto an interstate highway below. Three people were killed and dozens injured. There were no fatalities from the seven vehicles hit on the highway.
In 2018, new rules that increased penalties for drunk driving and expanded police powers to demand breath samples took effect across Canada. The legislation gave police officers the right to ask for a breath sample from any driver they lawfully stop, lowering the bar from the previous legislation, which required that an officer have reasonable suspicion that a person had been drinking.
In 2018, the Humboldt Broncos bus crash that killed 16 people and injured 13 others was chosen the top news story in Canada in 2018. Across the country, 129 editors voted in the annual survey taken by The Canadian Press and 53 picked the deadly crash as the most compelling story of the year.
In 2018, Ottawa announced $1.6 billion to help struggling energy companies stay afloat, buy new equipment and diversify as Alberta grappled with bargain basement oil prices. $1 billion was allocated through Export Development Canada for oil and gas companies to make capital investments and purchase new technology. $500 million was to be made available through the Business Development Bank of Canada over the next two years to help smaller oil and gas companies navigate the downturn. A further $150 million was to be used for clean growth and infrastructure projects. The package did not include money for more rail cars Alberta was planning to purchase to help move a glut of oil behind the low price of Canadian oil.
in 2018, Penny Marshall, who starred in "Laverne & Shirley" before becoming one of the top-grossing female directors in Hollywood, died at 75. Marshall passed away in her Hollywood Hills, Calif., home due to complications from diabetes. Marshall starred alongside Cindy Williams in the hit ABC comedy "Laverne & Shirley," which aired from 1976 to 1983. As a filmmaker, she became the first woman to direct a film that grossed more than $100 million with "Big," the 1988 comedy starring Tom Hanks.
In 2018, Jose Mourinho was out as manager at Manchester United. His turbulent run of two-plus years was marked by clashes with players and increasing tension with the team's style of play. United said it would not hire a permanent replacement until the off-season.
In 2019, SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. settled criminal charges related to work the company did in Libya, with its construction division pleading guilty to a single count of fraud and bringing the company a step closer to ending a long-standing scandal that tarnished its reputation and ensnared the highest office of the Canadian government. The conviction represented a new beginning for the company and removes an enduring element of risk that has contributed to significant financial losses since questionable practices first surfaced in 2012 and prompted the departure of former chief executive Pierre Duhaime. The charges had centred on allegations that the company paid nearly $48 million to public officials to influence government decisions under the late dictator Moammar Gadhafi's regime between 2001 and 2011.
In 2019, former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould was chosen as The Canadian Press newsmaker of the year for 2019. News editors and producers cited her central role in the SNC-Lavalin affair in voting her the runaway winner of the title. The scandal cost Justin Trudeau two ministers, his most trusted adviser, the country's top public servant and possibly his majority in the October election. Wilson-Raybould was a star Liberal candidate in 2015 and became Canada's first Indigenous justice minister. But she fell out with the prime minister over her refusal to order the negotiation of a "remediation agreement" for SNC-Lavalin, the Montreal engineering firm facing corruption-related charges over its dealings in Libya. She resigned from cabinet, was kicked out of the Liberal caucus and subsequently ran as an independent and won her seat.
In 2019, calling it a "great day for the Constitution of the United States, a sad one for America,'' House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared U-S President Donald Trump impeached. Trump is only the third American president to be formally charged with impeachment by the House of Representatives. The historic vote was split along party lines -- 230 for, 197 against and 1 abstention on the charge of abuse of office, and 229-198-1 on the charge of obstruction of Congress. The articles of impeachment -- the political equivalent of an indictment -- would go to the Republican-majority Senate for trial, where Trump was almost certain to be acquitted.
In 2020, the original actor behind the mask of a fictional, space-faring bounty hunter died. Jeremy Bulloch, who played fan-favourite Boba Fett in the original "Star Wars'' films, passed away at the age of 75. Over the years, the character of Boba Fett garnered a cult following, and Bulloch continued to meet with fans on the convention circuit.
In 2020, Vice-President Mike Pence became the highest-ranking U.S. government official to get a COVID-19 vaccine, receiving a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech drug in front of cameras at the White House. The event was intended to promote the safety of the vaccine and convince Americans to get vaccinated.
In 2023, Canada joined 14 other countries in calling for Israel to do more to stop "extremist settler'' violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, releasing a statement of "grave concern'' on the matter. The countries condemned "violent acts committed by extremist settlers," which they said were terrorizing Palestinian communities.
In 2023, Newfoundland and Labrador qualified for an equalization payment from the federal government for the first time since 2008. Finance Minister Siobhan Coady said the province would receive $218 million in the 2024-25 fiscal year under the equalization program.
In 2023, Pope Francis formally approved allowing priests to bless same-sex couples. The Vatican issued a new document explaining a radical change in policy by insisting that people seeking God’s love and mercy shouldn’t be subject to “an exhaustive moral analysis” to receive it.
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The Canadian Press