Today in History for Nov. 24:
On this date:
In 1639, astronomer Jeremiah Horrocks first observed the transit of Venus across the Sun.
In 1642, Dutch mariner Abel Tasman discovered Tasmania, a triangular-shaped island lying to the southeast of Australia.
In 1713, Father Junipero Serra, a Spanish missionary to western America, was born. From 1769, he established nine of the first 21 Franciscan missions founded along the Pacific coast, and baptized some 6,000 native Americans before his death in 1784.
In 1784, a mail route was established between Montreal and Quebec.
In 1807, Joseph Brant (1742-1807), chief of the Six Nations Indians, died at Burlington, Ont. He fought on the British side in the War of American independence and later led his tribe to Ontario's Grand River Valley. He was a Christian and translated Anglican services and scripture into Mohawk.
In 1837, Sir Francis Bond Head resigned as lieutenant governor of Upper Canada.
In 1838, Canadian Sulpician missionary Francois Blanchet first arrived in the Oregon Territory. A native of Quebec, he spent 45 years planting churches in the U.S. northwest, and is remembered today as the Apostle of Oregon.
In 1859, English naturalist Charles Darwin's "The Origin of the Species," which suggested humans evolved from apes, was published amid great controversy.
In 1864, French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was born in Albi.
In 1892, Sir John Abbott, third Prime Minister of Canada and the first PM born in Canada, stepped down and was succeeded by Sir John S. D. Thompson.
In 1903, a patent for the automobile's electric starter was granted to Clyde Coleman.
In 1905, Edmonton obtained its first direct transcontinental railway service when the Canadian Northern Railway was completed.
In 1937, the Canadian Authors Association set up the Governor General's Literary Awards.
In 1944, during the Second World War, U.S. bombers based on Saipan attacked Tokyo in the first raid against the Japanese capital by land-based planes.
In 1947, John Steinbeck's novel "The Pearl" was first published.
In 1956, the first Canadian members of the UN peacekeeping force arrived in Egypt.
In 1963, Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of U.S. President John F. Kennedy two days before, was shot to death by nightclub owner Jack Ruby while being transferred between jails in Dallas.
In 1969, "Apollo 12" splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean.
In 1971, a hijacker called Dan Cooper -- who came to be known erroneously as "D.B. Cooper" -- parachuted from a Northwest Airlines 727 over Washington state with $200,000 in ransom. (In 2016, the FBI closed the books on the unsolved case.)
In 1973, Australia granted the vote to Aborigines.
In 1973, William Richards Bennett, son of former B.C. premier W. A. C. Bennett, was elected B.C. Social Credit leader.
In 1976, an earthquake measuring 7.9 on Richter scale hit a wide area of eastern Turkey killing 5,300 people.
In 1980, Moretta (Molly) Reilly, the first woman in Canada to get an airline transport pilot's licence and member of the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame, died in Edmonton at the age of 58. She joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1942 as a photographer, and served until 1946. As a pilot with Peter Bawden Drilling Services in Calgary, she became the first to pilot a DC-3 in extensive periods of darkness, in extreme weather conditions, often without radio communication or navigation aids, in Canada's north.
In 1981, the Metric Commission of Canada announced the full conversion to the metric system in food stores across Canada. The changeover from Imperial units to metric was implemented simultaneously in 21 areas across Canada in January, 1982 and covered the rest of the country within two years.
In 1981, members of Parliament unanimously agreed to remove limits on sexual-equality guarantees in the new constitution.
In 1983, Graham Spry, a journalist, diplomat and broadcasting lobbyist who achieved his goal of getting an act passed to establish the CBC, died in Ottawa at age 83.
In 1984, a founding convention of the Representative Party, then Alberta's newest political organization, was held in Red Deer. Raymond Speaker, a former Social Credit cabinet minister and then an Independent member of the provincial legislature, was chosen party leader.
In 1985, Egyptian commandos stormed an Egyptair jetliner that was hijacked a day earlier shortly after takeoff from Athens and diverted to Valetta, Malta. Hijackers retaliated by throwing phosphorus grenades among the passengers, killing 60 of 98 people on board including passengers, crew and five hijackers.
In 1987, Jehane Benoit, called Canada's first lady of cuisine who published 25 cookbooks and was named an officer of the Order of Canada in 1973, died at age 83.
In 1987, the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to scrap short- and medium-range missiles in the first superpower treaty to eliminate an entire class of nuclear weapons.
In 1988, power was restored to people living in northeastern New Brunswick following a three-day blackout, one of the worst power disruptions in the province's history.
In 1989, Czechoslovakia's Communist Party leadership resigned after more than a week of huge pro-democracy protests.
In 1990, British author Dodie Smith, whose "The One Hundred and One Dalmatians" was turned into a Walt Disney feature cartoon, died at age 94.
In 1991, the Toronto Argonauts beat the Calgary Stampeders 36-21 in Winnipeg in the coldest Grey Cup game on record, -27 C.
In 1992, a Chinese Boeing 737 slammed into a mountain near Yangti, about 50 kilometres south of Guilin in a popular tourist area, killing all 141 people on board including one Canadian.
In 1993, two 11-year-old boys, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, were convicted of kidnapping and murdering two-year-old James Bulger of Liverpool, England. They were sentenced to indefinite detention, but released in 2001 after serving eight years.
In 1995, Ireland voted to legalize divorce by a narrow margin.
In 1997, Supreme Court Justice John Sopinka died at age 64.
In 1998, America Online confirmed it was buying Netscape Communications in a dramatic US$4.21 billion deal.
In 1999, Reform MP Jack Ramsay was found guilty of attempting to rape a native 14-year-old girl at the Pelican Narrows police station where he was an RCMP corporal in command 30 years earlier.
In 2002, the Montreal Alouettes downed the Edmonton Eskimos 25-16 to win their first Grey Cup since 1977. According to A.C. Nielsen overnight ratings, the CBC pulled in 4.244 million viewers for its telecast of the game, making it the most watched Grey Cup game on record.
In 2002, Quebec Premier Bernard Landry announced that the May 24th Quebec holiday, "La fete de Dollard," would henceforth be known as "La Journee nationale des Patriotes." The name was changed to honour the movement that contributed to the Rebellions of 1837-38 in Lower Canada and became an early symbol of French-Canadian nationalism.
In 2003, a court-appointed monitor probing the collapse of Enron Corp. said the Toronto Dominion Bank "aided and abetted" Enron executives in manipulating financial statements.
In 2004, novelist Arthur Hailey, author of blockbusters like "Airport," "Hotel" and "The Moneychangers," died in the Bahamas at the age of 84.
In 2005, a $5 billion deal for First Nations was announced at a meeting of first ministers and aboriginal leaders in Kelowna, B.C.
In 2007, the Labour Party led by Kevin Rudd won Australia's general election.
In 2007, Antonio Lamer, former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, died at age 74.
In 2012, at least 112 people were killed as a result of a fire that raced through an eight-story Bangladesh garment factory that supplied major retailers in the West. Police later arrested three factory officials suspected of locking in the workers.
In 2012, former championship boxer Hector "Macho" Camacho was taken off life support and declared dead, four days after he was shot in the face in an attack in his hometown of Bayamon, Puerto Rico. The 50-year-old was known for his skill and flamboyance in the ring and for a messy personal life that included drugs and run-ins with police.
In 2013, the host Saskatchewan Roughriders won the Grey Cup with a 45-23 blowout of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Kory Sheets, who rushed for two touchdowns and a record 197 yards was named MVP. Saskatchewan receiver Chris Getzlaf caught three passes for 78 yards, and was the outstanding Canadian.
In 2017, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologized on behalf of the government of Canada for abuse and cultural losses to former students at five residential schools in Newfoundland and Labrador. They had been left out of a compensation package and national apology in 2008 by former prime minister Stephen Harper, but the Liberal government offered in 2016 to settle a class-action lawsuit for $50 million.
In 2017, the South African Supreme Court of Appeal more than doubled the six-year prison sentence that double-amputee Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius received for the Valentine's Day 2013 murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. He will now serve 13 years and five months and be eligible for parole in 2023.
In 2017, Emmerson Mnangagwa was sworn in as president of Zimbabwe. He was fired as vice-president by President Robert Mugabe on Nov. 6 but returned to Zimbabwe after a military takeover that forced Mugabe to resign after nearly four decades in power.
In 2017, Islamic extremists opened fire on worshippers inside a mosque in Egypt's North Sinai Peninsula, killing 305 people and injuring 128 others.
In 2018, Laval downed the Western Mustangs 34-20 to pick up its record 10th Vanier Cup championship. Rouge et Or quarterback Hugo Richard led the way with 348 yards and two touchdowns in the air. The fifth-year QB also ran for 60 yards.
In 2019, Andrew Harris and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers earned some long-awaited Grey Cup redemption. Harris scored rushing and receiving TDs as Winnipeg stunned the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 33-12 before 35,439 spectators at McMahon Stadium for its first Grey Cup victory since 1990. Harris put an exclamation mark on his stellar performance (134 yards rushing, five receptions for 35 yards) by becoming the first player ever to be named the game's top player and Canadian. Harris, 32, of Winnipeg, is the first Canadian to capture Grey Cup MVP honours since legendary Ottawa quarterback Russ Jackson in 1969. The Bombers earned $16,000 apiece for the victory while Ticats players — who wore their home black uniforms and were 10-0 this season at Tim Hortons Field — received $8,000 each. More importantly, Winnipeg ended its 29-year championship drought. Hamilton's last title came in '99. The club also suffered its 16th straight loss at McMahon Stadium, the previous 15 coming against the hometown Calgary Stampeders.
In 2019, World Number 1 Rafael Nadal defeated Canada's Denis Shapovalov in straight sets in Madrid to give Spain its sixth Davis Cup title and deny Canada its first. Shapovalov was competing in a must-win match after Felix Auger-Aliassime (oh-ZHAY' ah-lihs-EEM') dropped the opening rubber of the best-of-three to Roberto Bautista Agut.
In 2019, Hong Kong's pro-democracy opposition won a stunning landslide victory in weekend local elections in a clear rebuke to city leader Carrie Lam over her handling of violent protests that have divided the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. The pro-democracy forces took control of 17 of the 18 district councils. Violent protests had divided the Chinese territory for nearly six months. Many voters shared the concern of protesters about growing Chinese influence over the former British colony, which was returned to China in 1997, and the erosion of their rights under the “one country, two systems” framework that gives Hong Kong its own legal system and government.
In 2019, John Simon, a theatre and film critic known for his lacerating reviews and often withering assessment of performers' physical appearance, died at 94. Simon died at Westchester Medical Center in Rochester, New York. Simon served as the chief theatre critic at New York magazine for nearly 40 years before being dismissed in 2005. He then worked at Bloomberg for five years before being fired in 2010. Simon defended his sharp elbows, arguing that the theatre was becoming dumbed down and that critics needed to have a sense of humour.
In 2020, Canada reached another agreement with a pharmaceutical company to buy doses of a potential COVID-19 treatment. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government bought 26,000 doses of an unnamed drug co-developed by Vancouver's AbCellera Biologics and Eli Lilly, with an option to buy thousands more. The two companies announced last March they were co-operating on developing a treatment using antibodies from a patient who had already had the illness.
In 2020, two swing states certified Democrat Joe Biden as the winner of the U.S. presidential election. Both Nevada and Pennsylvania formally declared their results from the Nov. 3 vote.
In 2020, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada's lack of vaccine-production facilities meant we would likely receive our COVID-19 vaccines after countries like the U.S., Germany and the U.K. But Trudeau said Ottawa was working with the provinces and the military to ensure vaccines are distributed across the country as soon as they are delivered.
In 2020, Indigenous hockey pioneer Fred Sasakamoose died after a presumed case of COVID-19. His son, Neil, said the 86-year-old died in a Prince Albert, Sask., hospital after several days of fighting the virus. Fred Sasakamoose played 11 games with the Chicago Blackhawks in 1953-54, becoming one of the first Indigenous players in the then-six-team NHL.
In 2021, Sweden's parliament approved Magdalena Andersson as the country's first female prime minister. Lawmakers had recently tapped the finance minister to replace Stefan Lofven as Social Democratic party leader and PM -- roles he relinquished earlier that year.
In 2021, a jury convicted the three white men charged in the death of Ahmaud Arbery. He was the Black man who was chased and fatally shot while running through their Georgia neighbourhood. The convictions for Greg McMichael, his son Travis McMichael, and neighbour William ``Roddie'' Bryan came after jurors deliberated for about 10 hours. The men faced minimum sentences of life in prison.
In 2021, the town of Wiarton, Ont., fessed up that its prognosticating groundhog Wiarton Willie died of an abscessed tooth more than nine months ago.
In 2022, Hall of Fame defenceman Borje Salming, who starred for the Toronto Maple Leafs over 16 NHL seasons, died of ALS at age 71. Team president Brendan Shanahan said Salming opened the door for Europeans in the NHL. The native of Sweden was signed as a free agent before the 1973-74 season, and retired with the Detroit Red Wings in 1990.
In 2023, with a four-day ceasefire underway, Hamas released 24 hostages held captive in Gaza while Israel freed 39 Palestinians from prison. Increased supplies of food, water, medicine and fuel promised under the deal also began to roll into Gaza. In subsequent exchanges, Hamas released about 81 hostages, mostly Israeli nationals, while Israel freed about 180 Palestinian prisoners.
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The Canadian Press