Today in History for Dec. 30:
In 1384, the English religious reformer John Wycliffe died of a stroke. He was a bold critic of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church and believed the Church should return to the Scriptures. Under his direction, the entire Bible was translated into English for the first time.
In 1813, British troops and Canadian militia raided Black Rock and Buffalo. The raid was in retaliation for an attack 18 days earlier when Brig.-Gen. George McClure's American troops burned the Canadian settlements of Niagara and Queenston. The two American villages were burned and four schooners were destroyed by the British troops.
In 1824, Upper Canada Legislature in York (now Toronto) was destroyed by fire.
In 1851, Asa Griggs Candler was born. He's known for purchasing the formula for Coca-Cola in 1887.
In 1853, the United States and Mexico signed a treaty under which the U.S. agreed to buy some 45,000 square miles of land from Mexico for $10 million in a deal known as the Gadsden Purchase. The area covered by the agreement is located in present-day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico.
In 1865, Rudyard Kipling, English poet, novelist and story writer, was born in Mumbai, India. Educated in England but returning to India at age 17, Kipling's most famous works include "The Jungle Book," "Captains Courageous," and "Kim."
In 1869, humorist Stephen Leacock was born in Swanmoor, England. He was a successful teacher of economics and political science at McGill University in Montreal but is best remembered for his humorous writing. Leacock's fame was cemented in two works, "Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town" and "Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich." The Leacock Medal for Humour was established in his honour. He died in 1944.
In 1870, Manitoba held its first provincial election.
In 1878, "Bible Bill" Aberhart, the first Social Credit premier of Alberta, was born in Brantford, Ont.
In 1881, the Royal Society of Canada was founded to advance learning and research in Canada.
In 1903, 602 people died when fire destroyed the Iroquois Theatre in Chicago.
In 1907, the Mills Commission issued its final report concluding that Abner Doubleday invented baseball -- a finding that few sports historians embrace.
In 1909, gold was discovered in Porcupine, Ont.
In 1911, Sun Yat-sen was elected the first provisional president of China.
In 1912, a train was used to carry wheat in Canada for the first time.
In 1922, Vladimir Lenin proclaimed the establishment of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics -- the USSR.
In 1936, the United Auto Workers union staged its first "sit-down" strike, at the Fisher Body Plant No. 1 in Flint, Mich.
In 1941, a famous photo of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill -- scowling after his ubiquitous cigar was taken away -- was snapped in Ottawa by Canadian photographer Yousuf Karsh.
In 1941, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill gave an electrifying speech to Canada's Parliament. The public galleries were filled to hear Churchill declare that the countries must work together for "the total and final extirpation of the Hitler tyranny, the Japanese frenzy and the Mussolini flop."
In 1949, the Communist Peoples' Republic of Romania was proclaimed.
In 1953, Admiral began selling the first colour television sets for consumers. The price was US$1,175.
In 1967, Vincent Massey, the first Canadian-born governor general, died in London. He was 80.
In 1971, the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission announced that an agreement had been reached between the two Christian traditions on the essential teachings about the Eucharist.
In 1972, the United States halted its heavy bombing of North Vietnam.
In 1974, legal gold trading began in the United States.
In 1981, Wayne Gretzky became the first NHL player to score 50 goals in fewer than 50 games in one season. In just his 39th game, Gretzky notched his 50th goal on an empty-netter that capped a five-goal night as the Edmonton Oilers downed the visiting Philadelphia Flyers 7-5.
In 1986, four players with the Swift Current Broncos of the Western Hockey League died when the team bus crashed en route to a game in Regina.
In 1988, the Canada-U.S. free-trade agreement was given approval by the Senate and received royal assent.
In 1992, Ling-Ling, the female giant panda donated by China to the Washington, D.C. National Zoo in 1972, died.
In 1993, Israel and the Vatican agreed to recognize each other diplomatically.
In 1994, a gunman walked into a pair of suburban Boston abortion clinics and opened fire, killing two employees and wounding five other people. John C. Salvi III was later convicted of murder and died in prison in an apparent suicide.
In 1997, the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board gave approval, with some conditions, to the $3-billion development of natural gas fields off Sable Island.
In 2003, the U.S. government announced it was banning the sale of ephedra, and urged consumers to immediately stop using the herbal stimulant linked to 155 deaths and dozens of heart attacks and strokes.
In 2004, a nightclub fire in Buenos Aires killed 175 people.
In 2006, former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, 69, was hanged in Baghdad after being found guilty of mass murder for his role in the killings of 148 Shiite Muslims from a town where assassins tried to kill him in 1982. He ruled Iraq with ruthless brutality for a quarter-century and at his death, was also facing charges of genocide for a 1987-88 military crackdown that killed an estimated 180,000 Kurds in northern Iraq. Saddam was driven from power by a U.S.-led war that began in March 2003 and ended up being dragged from a hole by American soldiers the following December.
In 2007, Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner of an election that opponents and observers alleged was rigged.
In 2007, Bilawal Zardari, the 19-year-old son of assassinated opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, was named symbolic leader of her Pakistan Peoples Party, while Bhutto's widower took effective control.
In 2009, Sgt. George Miok, 28; Sgt. Kirk Taylor, 28; Cpl. Zachery McCormack, 21; and Pte. Garrett Chidley, 21, and Calgary Herald journalist Michelle Lang were killed by a roadside bomb in Kandahar City. Lang, 34, became the first Canadian journalist to die while on the job in Afghanistan.
In 2010, CFL all-star Tony Proudfoot died at age 61 after a battle with Lou Gehrig's disease. He starred at defensive back for the Montreal Alouettes and 小蓝视频 Lions over 12 seasons, twice earning a spot on the CFL all-star team, in 1977 and 1979. He also won the 1974 and 1977 Grey Cups with Montreal.
In 2010, former Israeli President Moshe Katsav was convicted of two counts of raping an employee when he was a Cabinet minister in 1998, the most serious criminal charges ever brought against a high-ranking official. (In March 2011, he was sentenced to seven years in prison.)
In 2017, Montreal's La Presse published its final print edition after more than 133 years. The French-language newspaper continues to publish content on its digital platforms.
In 2020, no timeline was announced, but Iran said it would pay families $150,000 compensation for each person killed in the shooting down of a Ukrainian Airlines jet in January 2020. The crash killed 176 people, including 55 Canadian citizens, 30 permanent residents and many others with ties to Canadian universities.
In 2020, Britain approved use of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, but Health Canada said it would need more information before it could complete its review.
In 2020, the school principal who inspired the 1989 movie "Lean on Me'' died at his home in Florida. Joe Louis Clark was 82. Clark was hired as principal of a crime and drug-ridden high school in New Jersey and in just one day, expelled 300 students for fighting, vandalism, abusing teachers and drug possession. He roamed the hallways with a bullhorn and a baseball bat, and lifted the expectations of the students who remained, continually challenging them to perform better.
In 2020, the co-creator of the hit 1970s and '80s T-V shows "Columbo'' and "Murder, She Wrote'' died in Los Angeles. William Link was 87. Link and his longtime writing-producing partner, Richard Levinson, met as mystery-loving teens. Their T-V movies included 1970's "My Sweet Charlie,'' a rare small-screen depiction of an interracial romance that earned them a writing Emmy, and 1972's "That Certain Summer'' which was groundbreaking for its sympathetic portrayal of gay characters.
In 2020, Dawn Wells, who played the wholesome Mary Ann on the 1960s sitcom "Gilligan's Island,'' died. Her publicist said Wells died that morning in Los Angeles of causes related to COVID-19. She was 82. "Gilligan's Island'' -- with its goofy, good-natured humour -- became an unlikely staple of popular culture. Besides her numerous T-V, film and stage acting credits, Wells was also a teacher and motivational speaker.
In 2020, the federal government announced that all incoming travellers to Canada would soon be required to test negative for COVID-19. Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said the greatest concern around COVID-19 the federal government has heard from Canadians is the impact of international travel at airports.
In 2020, a Tennessee man who was one of the last surviving members of the Second World War jungle fighting unit known as Merrill's Marauders died at age 99. James Eubaun Richardson of Jacksboro was among just nine Marauders still living. The Marauders deployed nearly three-thousand soldiers in 1944 on a secret mission behind enemy lines in Japanese-occupied Burma. Barely 200 remained in the fight when their mission was completed.
In 2021, an Ontario study suggested the Omicron variant was significantly less likely to cause hospitalization or death than the Delta variant of COVID-19. Public Health Ontario said its study suggests the risk of hospitalization or death was 54 per cent lower with Omicron.
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The Canadian Press