TODAY IN HISTORY:

The Gold Rush

In 1896, the discovery that led to the Klondike gold rush was made. George Washington Carmack and two companions, Skookum Jim and Tagish Charlie, found gold at Rabbit Creek, a tributary of the Yukon’s Klondike River. After news of the strike reached the outside world, thousands of miners poured into the territory.

In 1904, Ford of Canada began building cars in a converted wagon works in Walkerville, near Windsor, Ont. The 17 workers assembled a total of 114 cars in the first year.

In 1913, the Ontario government barred the teaching of French in the province’s schools past grade one.

In 1920, Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians became the only player to die from injuries received in a major league baseball game. Chapman was hit in the temple the previous day by a pitch from the New York Yankees’ Carl Mays.

In 1969, the three-day Woodstock Music and Art Fair concluded in upstate New York. One of the day’s memorable moments was Pete Townshend of The Who knocking Yippie Abbie Hoffman off the stage during the performance of {Tommy.”

In 1975, the Soviet nuclear-powered icebreaker Artika became the first surface ship to reach the North Pole.

In 1985, Corey Hart played his first show as an arena headliner in his hometown of Montreal. The “Sunglasses at Night” singer was overwhelmed by the 18,000 fans.

In 1987, Rudolph Hess, Adolf Hitler’s ex-deputy, hung himself in the Spandau prison in West Berlin. Hess spent the last 20 years of his life as the sole inmate of Spandau. He was 93.

In 1998, U.S. President Bill Clinton gave historic testimony to a criminal grand jury about his sexual affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. He was the first American president to be questioned by a criminal grand jury.

In 2009, the Canada Line, Vancouver’s new rapid transit line and the first to link a major Canadian city to its airport, opened with a day of free riding.