Today in History for June 9:
On this date:
In 68 AD, the brutal and paranoid Roman emperor Nero committed suicide at age 31. Nero is regarded as one of the worst of Rome's emperors, better known for devoting himself to horse racing, singing, dancing and sexual exploits than administrative duties. He is often accused of "fiddling while Rome burned" although historians generally agree that he did in fact try to control the fire that destroyed much of the city in 64 AD.
In 597, St. Columba, as he was known to the Irish, died. He spread the gospel from Ireland to the northern British Isles.
In 1549, the Church of England adopted "The Book of Common Prayer," compiled by Thomas Cranmer.
In 1672, Peter I of Russia, known as "Peter the Great," was born. As Tsar of Russia from 1682-1725, he turned his country into a major European power. He founded St. Petersburg, which he made the new capital.
In 1793, the importation of slaves into Upper Canada was prohibited.
In 1829, 30 people attended Canada's first temperance meeting in Montreal.
In 1846, a fire ravaged St. John's, Nfld., leaving nearly 12,000 people homeless.
In 1866, a 20-year-old Irish soldier won the only Victoria Cross awarded for an act of valour on Canadian soil. Private Timothy O'Hea saved 800 German immigrants locked in converted boxcars on a train stopped at Danville, Que. All by himself, O'Hea put out a fire in another boxcar filled with ammunition before it exploded.
In 1870, British author Charles Dickens died at age 58. He wrote 15 major novels, including "A Tale of Two Cities" and "Great Expectations," as well as countless short stories and articles. The inscription on his tombstone in Poet's Corner, Westminster Abbey, reads: "He was a sympathiser to the poor, the suffering, and the oppressed; and by his death, one of England's greatest writers is lost to the world."
In 1881, Cap. Angus Walters, skipper of the famed schooner "Bluenose," was born in Nova Scotia. Walters took command of the "Bluenose" in 1921 and raced against other East Coast schooners until 1938.
In 1902, the Automat Restaurant, the first restaurant with food vending machines, opened in Philadelphia.
In 1934, the first successful field test of FM radio was conducted by Edwin Howard Armstrong in Alpine, N.J.
In 1940, during the Second World War, Norway decided to surrender to the Nazis, effective at midnight.
In 1947, wartime control and rationing of all dairy products in Canada ended.
In 1959, one of Canada's most sensational criminal cases began when 12-year-old Lynne Harper was murdered near the southwestern Ontario community of Clinton. Fourteen-year-old Steven Truscott was convicted and served 10 years in prison. In 2007, the Ontario Court of Appeal unanimously overturned that conviction, declaring the case "a miscarriage of justice."
In 1964, Lord Beaverbrook, the Canadian-born British cabinet minister and media magnate, died at age 85.
In 1968, the first national televised debate of Canadian political leaders was held. It featured Pierre Trudeau, Robert Stanfield, Tommy Douglas and Real Caouette.
In 1973, "Secretariat" became thoroughbred horse racing's first Triple Crown winner in 25 years. New Brunswick-born jockey Ron Turcotte rode "Secretariat" to an incredible 31-length victory in the Belmont Stakes.
In 1978, the Mormon Church announced it would, for the first time, admit black men to the priesthood.
In 1986, a U.S. presidential commission found the failure of a rocket joint was the single physical cause of the "Challenger" shuttle disaster.
In 1988, the Supreme Court of Canada quashed Newfoundland's 12-year battle with Quebec for a greater share of the giant Churchill Falls Hydro project.
In 1991, Mount Pinatubo, located in the Philippines and dormant for six centuries, exploded in a tower of ash and smoke. The eruption forced the evacuation of 20 villages within a 20-kilometre radius.
In 1997, Stanley Knowles, the man known as the conscience of Parliament, died in Ottawa at age 88. He spent four decades in the Commons, championing the poor and disadvantaged. He first won a Winnipeg seat in 1942 as a member of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, which later became the NDP. After Knowles retired from politics in 1984, he received the unique honour of a permanent seat near the Commons clerk. Knowles was made an officer of the Order of Canada in 1985.
In 1999, after 78 days of NATO air attacks, Yugoslavia agreed to begin withdrawing troops from Kosovo and allow the deployment of an international security force in the province.
In 2003, Premier Bernard Lord and his Conservatives returned to power with a bare majority in the New Brunswick general election. Conservatives held 46 seats at dissolution, but emerged with 28 seats in the 55 seat-legislature. Liberals captured 26 seats, up from seven. The NDP won one.
In 2005, in a 4-3 decision, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down a Quebec law banning private insurance for services covered by medicare. The court ruled Quebec was violating the right of patients to seek private care when faced with long waiting lists in the public system. Both the Quebec and federal governments asked for an 18-month delay in implementing the judgment. In August, the Supreme Court announced it would suspend the judgment for 12 months.
In 2007, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled the right to collective bargaining in the workplace is protected by the Charter of Rights, striking down controversial B.C. legislation that had contracted out work, axing thousands of jobs.
In 2009, voters in Nova Scotia made history, electing the first NDP government in Atlantic Canada as they delivered a decisive majority win to Darrell Dexter’s New Democratic Party, which claimed 31 seats in the 52-seat legislature, up from 20 at dissolution. The ruling Tories under Rodney MacDonald were reduced to third-party status and 10 seats, down from 21. The Liberals gained two seats to end up with 11.
In 2010, Patrick Kane's goal in overtime ended the longest active title drought in the NHL as the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 in Game 6 and hoisted the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1961.
In 2018, Justify led all the way in winning the 150th running of the Belmont Stakes, becoming the 13th Triple Crown champion.
In 2018, No. 1 seed Simona Halep defeated Sloane Stephens 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 to win the French Open women's title, her first career major title.
In 2019, Rapper Bushwick Bill - founder of the iconic Houston rap group the Geto Boys - died at 52. Bill's publicist said the rapper, whose legal name is Richard Shaw, was surrounded by family when he died at a Colorado hospital. Shaw had been diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer in February.
In 2019, Jim Pike, co-founder and lead singer of The Lettermen, died at age 82 at his home in Prescott, Arizona. The cause was complications of Parkinson's Disease. Pike and his college buddy, Bob Engemann, formed The Lettermen in Los Angeles in 1961 with fellow singer Tony Butala. Pike's lush vocal harmonies made the Grammy-nominated trio one of the most popular vocal groups of the 1960s with songs like "Goin' Out Of My Head/Can't Take My Eyes Off You."
In 2019, Rafael Nadal won his 12th French Open title. The 33-year-old from Spain beat Austria's Dominic Thiem 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 in the men's final.
In 2020, George Floyd was taken to his family's burial site in Houston after more than 500 mourners packed a church for his funeral. The death of the Black man at the hands of police in Minneapolis inspired a worldwide reckoning over racial injustice.
In 2021, a settlement was reached in a class-action lawsuit against the federal government involving hundreds of First Nations people left out of residential-school compensation. The lawsuit was brought by Indigenous students known as "day scholars,'' who attended the notorious residential schools but returned to their homes at night. Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett said the settlement will see survivors receive compensation of $10,000.
In 2021, TC Energy Corporation cancelled the Keystone XL pipeline project after a comprehensive review of its options. Construction on the pipeline was suspended earlier in the year after U.S. President Joe Biden revoked its presidential permit. It would have run from Hardisty, Alta., through Montana and South Dakota to Steele City, Neb.
In 2022, the Crown dropped its case against Matthew Matchett, a federal bureaucrat accused of leaking secret cabinet documents about a $700-million shipbuilding contract. The Crown's decision came more than three years after the Crown's case against vice-admiral Mark Norman was also dropped. Both Matchett and Norman had been accused of leaking information about the Liberal government's decision in 2015 to delay approval of a navy contract.
In 2023, after repeated calls from opposition leaders and members of the public, former governor general David Johnston said he is stepping down from his role as special rapporteur investigating foreign interference in Canada.
In 2024, a four-alarm fire ripped through St. Anne's Anglican Church in Toronto, severely damaging a national historic site and several murals by the Group of Seven. The rector of the church confirmed the early paintings by three Group of Seven members were in the part of the church destroyed by the blaze. The paintings had been installed in the 1920s.
In 2024, Reverend James Lawson Junior, an apostle of nonviolent protest who schooled activists to withstand brutality from white authorities during the Civil Rights Movement, died at the age of 95 after a short illness in Los Angeles. Lawson was a close adviser to the Reverend Martin Luther King Junior.
----
The Canadian Press