Today in History for Feb. 5:
In 1555, in the southern part of present-day Germany, the Diet of Augsburg began its final deliberations. Delegates later signed the Peace of Augsburg, granting official recognition to Lutheranism as a religion.
In 1597, 26 Japanese Christians were crucified for their faith in Nagasaki, Japan. By 1640, thousands had been martyred.
In 1667, the first mining of iron ore in Canada began at Trois-Rivieres, Que.
In 1705, Philipp Jakob Spener, founder of Pietism, died. The German Protestant movement focused on believers' personal religious experiences instead of legalism.
In 1788, British prime minister Sir Robert Peel was born. Concerned about public safety while he was home secretary, Peel established London's first police force in 1829. The officers were called "bobbies" -- and sometimes "peelers" -- in Peel's honour.
In 1841, the union of Upper and Lower Canada became official.
In 1856, the Order of the Victoria Cross was instituted by Queen Victoria. The Commonwealth's highest award for military bravery was given to 94 Canadians until 1972, when the Canadian bravery awards were created.
In 1897, the Travelers Insurance Company of Hartford, Conn., issued the first car insurance policy to Dayton, Ohio, resident Gilbert J. Loomis, a mechanic who built a one-cylinder car. He paid $7.50 for $1,000 of liability on a policy that covered any damage caused to people and property.
In 1920, King's College at Windsor, N.S., was destroyed by fire. The school's governors later agreed to an affiliation with Dalhousie University in Halifax.
In 1930, Cairine Wilson was appointed Canada's first woman senator.
In 1946, a royal commission was appointed to evaluate evidence taken from the Soviet embassy in Ottawa by cipher clerk Igor Gouzenko, telling of Soviet espionage in Canada. The commission confirmed five months later that a spy ring had been operating in Canada, aimed at atomic bomb secrets and other information.
In 1954, the most northerly group of islands in Canada was named the Queen Elizabeth Islands. The islands are part of the Franklin District in the Northwest Territories.
In 1963, the Conservative government of John Diefenbaker was toppled by a Commons vote of 142-111. The resulting election saw the Liberals form a minority government under Lester Pearson.
In 1973, construction began on Toronto's CN Tower. The $52 million, 553.3-metre structure opened in 1976, making it -- at the time -- the world's tallest free standing completed structure on land.
In 1974, the unmanned "Mariner 10" spacecraft, on its way to Mercury, sent back the first pictures taken from space of the planet Venus.
In 1980, before more than 21,000 fans in Detroit, the legendary Gordie Howe played in his 23rd and final NHL All-Star game. The 51-year-old Howe retired at the end of the season.
In 1980, Winnipeg-born Sir William Stephenson, who used the code name "Intrepid" while working in the British spy service during the Second World War, was awarded the Order of Canada.
In 1981, Toronto police officers raided four bathhouses and charged nearly 300 men with being found in a common bawdy house. The largest mass arrest in Canada in 11 years was credited with galvanizing Toronto's gay and lesbian movement.
In 1982, Laker Airways, which had provided "no frills" service across the Atlantic, declared bankruptcy.
In 1983, after being expelled from Bolivia, former Gestapo official Klaus Barbie was taken to Lyon, France, to stand trial for war crimes. In 1987, he received a life term for deporting thousands of French Jews to death camps. Barbie died in 1991.
In 1987, Defence Minister Perrin Beatty announced that Canada would begin allowing women into almost every job in the military, including combat roles, on a trial basis.
In 1991, Quebec and Ottawa signed an immigration accord giving Quebec exclusive responsibility for selecting immigrants.
In 1997, after months of international pressure, Switzerland's three largest banks donated $96 million to a fund for Holocaust victims and their heirs. The banks had been accused of hoarding Jewish assets left in their trust during the Second World War. The restitution effort was spearheaded by Canadian businessman Edgar Bronfman, the head of the World Jewish Congress. The fund eventually swelled to more than $250 million with contributions from other Swiss businesses.
In 2003, Canada's provincial premiers and the federal government reached a $27 billion, five-year deal on the health-care system that fell slightly short of what Roy Romanow's study said was needed.
In 2009, Todd Hardy, 51, resigned as leader of the Yukon's New Democrats, because of leukemia. He died July 28, 2010.
In 2009, the Ontario Securities Commission struck a $77 million settlement with top executives of Research In Motion Ltd. over allegations that they orchestrated an improper compensation scheme that cost the company more than $100 million. The amount ordered was the largest ever levied by the province's stock market watchdog.
In 2010, NDP Leader Jack Layton announced that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. (He died Aug. 22, 2011).
In 2012, the New York Giants defeated the New England Patriots 21-17 to win the Super Bowl. Giants quarterback Eli Manning was named MVP.
In 2017, New England quarterback Tom Brady led the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history as the Patriots erased a 25-point deficit to force the first-ever overtime, win the coin toss and drive down the field for the game-ending touchdown in a 34-28 victory over the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl 51. Brady set Super Bowl records for: yards passing (446), pass attempts (62), completions (43), MVP awards (4), and quarterback wins (5).
In 2018, the Dow closed 1,175.21 points lower, a record one-day points loss. At one point in intra-day trading it had plunged nearly 1,600 points.
In 2019, the Toronto Maple Leafs signed star centre Auston Matthews to a five-year contract extension with an average annual value of just over US$11.6-million. The 21-year-old was in his third NHL season with the Maple Leafs.
In 2020, Japan quarantined a Diamond Princess cruise ship carrying more than 3,700 people — including 251 Canadians — after several people on board tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The ship was ordered to remain under quarantine for 14 days in Yokohama.
In 2020, the U.S. Senate acquitted President Donald Trump on both impeachment charges against him. The vote against impeachment was never in doubt, since Republicans controlled the chamber.
In 2020, legendary actor Kirk Douglas, star of "Spartacus" and "Lust for Life," died at 103.
In 2021, legendary Canadian actor Christopher Plummer died at the age of 91 at his home in Connecticut. He had suffered a serious head injury in a fall a few weeks earlier. Plummer's career on radio, on stage, in movies and on television spanned more than five decades. The role of Captain von Trapp in the film ''The Sound of Music'' made him a star, though he once said he preferred to do character parts rather than leading men. In 2010, at the age of 82, he became the oldest Academy Award acting winner in history, for his portrayal of a gay man who comes out to his family at age 75 in "Beginners.''
In 2021, Leon Spinks, the only boxer to take the heavyweight title from Muhammad Ali, died at 67. The Olympian and former heavyweight champion had been battling prostate and other cancers. Spinks won gold at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, but shocked the boxing world when he beat Muhammad Ali for the heavyweight title in 1978 in just his 8th professional bout.
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(The Canadian Press)
The Canadian Press
