Today in History – Sept. 16, 2010

Today is September 16th:

Today's highlight in history:

In 1914, the first Canadian military air service, the Canadian Aviation Corps, was formed by Sir Sam Hughes.

Also on this date:

In 1224, during an extended period of prayer and fasting, it is said St. Francis of Assisi received the stigmata (Crucifixion scars of Jesus Christ) on Mount Alvernia, in Italy. Francis, the founder of the Franciscans in 1209, has been called by some the greatest of all the Christian saints.

In 1810, Mexicans began their successful revolt against Spanish rule.

In 1858, Andrew Bonar Law, the only British prime minister from outside the United Kingdom, was born at Rexton, N.B. He was prime minister in 1922. He only held the job for 109 days, resigning because of ill health. He died in 1923 in London.

In 1859, Dr. David Livingstone discovered Lake Nyasa in Africa.

In 1890, the Hamilton Public Library opened.

In 1893, Calgary was incorporated as a city.

In 1901, the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York (later King George V and Queen Mary) began a visit to Canada.

In 1908, General Motors was formed in Flint, Michigan, by William C. Durant.

In 1916, prohibition took effect in Ontario after a night when liquor stores and bars sold out their stocks.

In 1916, John Kerr of Fox River, Nova Scotia won the Victoria Cross while serving with the Canadian Expeditionary Force at Courcelette, France during the First World War.

In 1920, a bomb blast in New York's financial district killed 33 people and injured 100. The case was never solved.

In 1934, the first Mickey Mouse comic strip appeared.

In 1940, the United States began compulsory military registration of all men between the ages of 21 and 35.

In 1944, the British government lifted its five-year wartime blackout of London.

In 1945, Britain accepted Japan's formal surrender of Hong Kong following the Second World War.

In 1957, a four-month strike ended at the Aluminum Co. of Canada plant at Arvida, Que.

In 1962, the International Nickel Co. of Canada gave $2.5 (m) million to Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ont.

In 1963, Malaysia became an independent state.

In 1964, the Columbia River Treaty, signed by Canada and the United States, became effective. Canada built three dams for water storage to produce maximum flood control and power downstream. The United States made a lump sum prepayment of $254.4 (m) million U-S for the power benefit in the first 30 years. The downstream benefits reverted to Canada in 1994. The agreement sparked controversy over the environmental damage caused by the dams, especially to the salmon runs.

In 1974, U.S. President Gerald Ford announced clemency for military deserters and draft dodgers.

In 1974, the first female recruit was sworn in as a member of the RCMP. Thirty-two women began training in Regina on Sept. 23, 1974, and later became the force's first female troop. Today, women undergo the same training as male constables and are assigned duties on the same basis.

In 1978, in the first meeting between two Triple Crown winners, ``Seattle Slew'' defeated ``Affirmed'' by three lengths to win the Marlboro Cup horse race.

In 1978, an earthquake in northeastern Iran killed more than 25,000 people.

In 1987, at a conference in Montreal sponsored by the UN Environmental Program, 24 countries and the European Community signed an agreement to protect Earth's fragile ozone shield. There were 49 countries who expressed their approval but for various reasons didn't sign the protocol. The agreement called for the control and the reduction of the use of chlorofluorocarbons or CFC's.

In 1993, the federal Health Department launched the Krever inquiry to look into Canada's tainted blood supplies. Justice Horace Krever spent four years in his investigation and made 50 recommendations when he issued his report in 1997. Among them was that there be no-fault compensation for the thousands of Canadians who were infected with HIV and Hepatitis C from tainted blood and blood products in the mid-1980's to 1990.

In 1994, a U.S. jury ordered Exxon Corp. to pay US$5 (b) billion as punishment for causing a major oil spill at Prince William Sound, Alaska. It also ruled that Joseph Hazelwood, captain of the Valdez when it ran aground in 1989, should pay $5,000.

In 1996, the new Ontario College of Teachers, a self-regulatory professional body, was officially launched. It began operation the following spring with legislative authority to license teachers, accredit training programs and co-ordinate and monitor professional training.

In 1996, the Canada Information Office, a new $20 million-a-year federal information agency, began operation.

In 1996, Carole Lafrance of Montreal became the first woman chair of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

In 1998, for the first time, a robotic device controlled by a heart surgeon performed coronary bypass surgery at a clinic in Munich. The procedure is performed without cutting open a patient's chest and reduces recovery time by weeks.

In 2003, MP's defeated a Canadian Alliance motion 137-132 that called on Parliament to preserve the definition of marriage as ``the union of one man and one woman, to the exclusion of all others.'' (Speaker Peter Milliken had to cast the deciding vote after an amended version of the motion resulted in a perfect tie.) The Canadian Alliance introduced the motion in the House of Commons in an effort to block the legalization of gay marriage.

In 2004, The National Hockey League lockout went into effect. It lasted 310 days and forced the cancellation of the 2004-05 season. It was the first time the Stanley Cup was not awarded since 1919.

In 2004, a court decision made Manitoba the fifth jurisdiction in Canada to allow same-sex marriages.

In 2004, Hurricane Ivan slammed into the U.S. Gulf Coast with winds of 210 kilometres per hour, packing deadly tornadoes and a powerful punch of waves and rain that swamped communities from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle, killing at least 22 people.

In 2007, Canadian Mildred Furlong of Prince George, B.C., survived the crash of a Thai airliner that claimed at least 88 lives, including one Canadian, on the Thai resort island of Phuket.

In 2008, in a historic move, the U-S government agreed to provide an $85 billion (U.S.) emergency loan to rescue American International Group Inc. (AIG), one of the world's largest insurance companies.

In 2008, General Motors Corp. unveiled its long-awaited Volt electric car in Detroit.

In 2008, it was a perfect end to Chantal Petitclerc's incredible Paralympic career. The Montreal wheelchair racer won the T54 1,500 metres to collect her fifth gold medal of the Beijing Paralympic Games. Petitclerc is one of Canada's most decorated Paralympic athletes. She has 21 medals in a career that spanned five Paralympics. That includes 14 gold, five silver and two bronze.

In 2008, Derek Jeter broke Lou Gehrig's record for hits at Yankee Stadium, and just in time. Jeter had his 1,270th hit at the 85-year-old ballpark, which closed on Sept. 21. The Yankees began playing the 2009 season at the New Yankee Stadium.

In 2009, Rahim Jaffer, the former Edmonton MP and National Caucus Chair for the Conservative Party, was charged with impaired driving and cocaine possession. In March 2010, the charges were withdrawn after he pleaded guilty to careless driving and was fined $500.

In 2009, Mary Travers, one-third of the hugely popular 1960's folk trio ``Peter, Paul and Mary,'' died in Connecticut at age 72.

(The Canadian Press)