TODAY IN HISTORY: Marc Garneau lifts off again
In 804, the English medieval scholar Alcuin of York died. As an educator, he made beauty, goodness and truth the hallmarks of Charlemagne’s Frankish empire. His great hunger for learning revived the Augustinian tradition of Christian classical education and helped to lay the foundations of Europe’s Christian civilization.
In 1535, French explorer Jacques Cartier left StMalo on his second voyage to Canada.
In 1649, following a civil war and the execution of King Charles I, England was declared a Commonwealth under the leadership of Oliver Cromwell.
In 1780, complete darkness fell on eastern Canada and the New England states at 2 p.m. Many people gathered in churches for comfort during the socalled “dark day.” Scientists believe smoke and ash from forest fires burning to the west likely became concentrated into a dense cloud which was drawn across North America by passing low pressure.
In 1889, doing 19.3 kilometres an hour, Jacob German of New York City became the first person arrested for speeding in an automobile.
In 1935, British soldier-writer T.E. Lawrence, also known as “Lawrence of Arabia,” died in England from injuries sustained in a motorcycle crash six days earlier. He was 46. Lawrence, who was born on Aug. 16, 1888, in Wales, became famous for his exploits as the British military liaison to the Arab Revolt during the First World War.
In 1958, the U.S. and Canada formally established the North American Air Defence Command.
In 1962, during a Democratic fundraiser at New York’s Madison Square Garden, actress Marilyn Monroe sang “Happy Birthday to You” to the guest of honour, U.S. President John F. Kennedy.
In 1967, the Soviet Union, U.S. and Britain ratified a treaty banning nuclear weapons from outer space.
In 1994, former U.S. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis died of cancer at age 64.
In 1996, Canadian astronaut Marc Garneau began his second of three space missions. During his 11 days on the shuttle “Endeavour,” Garneau used the CanadArm to retrieve a scientific satellite. He also performed several scientific experiments, including three developed by Canadians.
In 1996, the RCMP stormed an armed barricade to end a five-week standoff at the Waterhen native reserve in Manitoba. Thirty-two were arrested.
In 1997, for the first time in four years, fishermen dropped their nets for cod off southern Newfoundland. A small commercial fishery reopened off the south coast and in the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence. The fishery had been completely closed in 1993 due to declining stocks.
In 2004, Manmohan Singh, an economist whose reforms opened up India’s economy, was chosen prime minister of India, ending weeks of turmoil that culminated with Sonia Gandhi’s refusal to take the post. Singh was India’s first non-Hindu PM.