1307 - The legendary Swiss archer William Tell is said to have shot Hermann Gessler, the Austrian governor of Tyrol

1793 - During the French Revolution, "Christianity" was abolished on this date. Reason was deified, and as many as 2,000 churches were afterward destroyed throughout France

1805 - Lewis & Clark first sight Pacific Ocean

1874 - Thomas Nast used an elephant to represent the Republican Party in a satirical cartoon published in Harper's Weekly. Today, the elephant is still recognized as a symbol of the GOP.

1805 - The Lewis and Clark Expedition arrived at the Pacific Ocean

1850 - Upper Canada School of Medicine affiliates with University of Toronto

1865 - London Gazette, oldest surviving journal, is founded

1872 - Mary Celeste sails from NY to Genoa; found abandoned 4 weeks later

1874 - First cartoon depicting elephant as Republican Party symbol, by T Nast

1875 - Verney Cameron is first European to cross equatorial Africa

1885 - The CPR passenger liner Algoma was wrecked on Lake Superior

1885 - Canadian Pacific Railway, Canada's first transcontinental railway, completed at Craigellachie BC

1907 - Test tokens struck for first issue of Canadian coins at the Ottawa branch of the Royal Mint

1917 - The Bolshevik-led Congress of Soviets comes to power in Russia

1917 - British capture Gaza Palestine from the Turks

1918 - Government establishes Canadian Trade Mission in London, England

1922 �?First class held in new brick school in Mimosa

1954 - Windsor's St Michael's Church, its first Slovak church of the Byzantine Rite, was consecrated

1957 - First Trabant (servant in English) car was produced at the former Horch auto works in Zwickau. For the Trabant's first marque, the designers settled on "Sputnik," to commemorate the Soviet Union's launching of the first artificial Earth satellite the month before

1962 - Glenn Hall (Chicago Blackhawks) set NHL record of 503 consecutive games as goalie

1969 - John & Yoko release their 2nd album "Wedding Album" in UK

1976 - "Gone With the Wind" televised

1978 - Anne Murray's 'You Needed Me' hits #1 on the Billboard singles chart

1982 - Edmonton Eskimos Warren Moon passes for 341 yards against Regina to become first pro quarterback to complete 5,000 passing yards in a season

1988 - Sun Publishing acquires The Ottawa Herald and relaunches it as the daily Ottawa Sun

1991 - Magic Johnson announces he has HIV virus & retires from Lakers

 

Birthdays

1860 - Paul Peel, London Ontario - painter: Tired Model, A Venetian Bather
1867 - Madame Marie [Manya Sklodowska] Curie, Warsaw Poland - discovered radium
1879 - Leon Trotsky [Lev Davidovich Bronstein], Yanovka Ukraine  - organized the revolution that brought the Bolsheviks (later Communists) to power in Russia
1903 - Dean Jagger, Lima Ohio - actor: Albert Vane-Mr Novak, Elmer Gantry
1913 - Albert Camus, Algeria - author: The Just, The Plague
1918 - Billy Graham, Charlotte NC - evangelist
1922 - Al Hirt, New Orleans LA - jazz trumpeter: Java
1936 - Barry Newman, Boston MA - actor: Amy, Deadline, Petrocelli
1936 - Audrey McLaughlin [Brown], Dutton Ontario - politician: first New Democrat MP elected in the Yukon; chosen NDP leader at 1989 Winnipeg convention
1938 - Dee Clark, Arkansas - singer: Hambone, Nobody But You
1938 - James Katt - baseball player: NY Yankees, Minnesota Twins
1942 - Johnny Rivers - singer: Secret Agent Man
1943 - Joni Mitchell [Roberta Joan Anderson], Fort McLeod Alberta - singer: Clouds, Woodstock
1944 - Jim Watkins, Philadelphia PA - actor: Jerry-Magician
1944 - Joe Niekro - baseball kplayer: NY Yankees
1945 - Earl Boen, Pueblo CO - actor: Dennis-It's A Living
1949 - Judy Tenuda - comedienne - Spotlight Cafe
1951 - Nick Guilder - singer: Hot Child in the City
1963 - Todd McKee - actor: Ted-Santa Barbara, Bold & Beautiful
1964 - Dana Plato, Maywood CA - actress: Kimberly-Diff'rent Strokes
1964 - Liam O'Maonlai - singer: Hothouse Flowers-Don't Go
1969 - Tanya Dubnicoff, Winnipeg Manitoba - Olympic cyclist
1972 - Christopher Daniel Barnes - actor: Ross-Day by Day, As World Turns
1972 - Clive B. Barnes, Portland Me - actor: Scott Hayden-Starman

 

 

Mom

 

I'd had a pretty hectic day with my four-year-old. When bed-time finally came, I laid down the law: "We're putting on your pj’s, brushing your teeth, and reading ONE book. Then it's lights out!"
 
Her arms went around my neck in a gentle embrace, and she said, "We learned in Sunday school about little boys and girls who don't have mommies and daddies."
 
Even after I'd been such a grouch, I thought, she was still grateful to have me. I felt tears begin to well up in my eyes, and then she whispered, "Maybe you could go be THEIR mom?"