Today in History for April 8:
In 626, Maedoc of Ferns, an early Irish believer in Jesus Christ, died. He established a Christian community in Wexford, where he gave shelter to babies who survived primitive abortion surgeries at the hands of pagan Druids. The community still survives.
In 1513, explorer Juan Ponce de Leon claimed Florida for Spain.
In 1541, St. Francis Xavier, who was canonized in 1622 by Pope Gregory XV, left Portugal to serve as a missionary to India. He's remembered as the Apostle of the Indies.
In 1751, in Halifax, William Pigott opened English Canada's first inn.
In 1857, a small group of Dutch immigrants met in Zeeland, Mich., to organize the Christian Reformed Church.
In 1858, the hour bell of London's Big Ben was cast.
In 1875, the Northwest Territories Act, establishing a lieutenant governor and a territorial council, became law.
In 1892, Mary Pickford, winner of one of the first Academy Awards and known as ``America's Sweetheart,'' was born Gladys Louise Smith in Toronto. She made her theatrical debut in 1900, then went on to star in such classic silent films as ``Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm'' and ``Little Lord Fauntleroy.'' In 1919, she and her first husband -- actor Douglas Fairbanks -- joined with Charlie Chaplin and director D.W. Griffith to form the United Artists Corp. She died in Los Angeles in 1979.
In 1915, Ontario created a board to handle liquor distribution. It is now called the Liquor Control Board of Ontario.
In 1946, the League of Nations assembled in Geneva for the last time before being replaced by the United Nations.
In 1952, U.S. President Harry S. Truman seized the steel industry to avert a nationwide strike. The U.S. Supreme Court later ruled that Truman had overstepped his authority.
In 1963, the Liberals won the most seats in a federal election and later formed a minority government under Lester Pearson. John Diefenbaker's Conservatives had held power since 1957.
In 1969, the Montreal Expos played their first regular-season game at New York's Shea Stadium. Home runs by relief pitcher Dan McGinn and third baseman Jose ``Coco'' Laboy helped the Expos edge the New York Mets 11-10. The Expos finished the season with a record of 52-and-110. The Mets overcame that opening loss to astound the baseball world by winning the World Series.
In 1973, Spanish artist Pablo Picasso died at his home in France at age 91.
In 1974, Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hit his 715th career home run in a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, breaking Babe Ruth's record. Aaron retired in 1976 with 755 career homers. Barry Bonds broke Aaron's record on Aug. 7, 2007 and finished his career with 762.
In 1986, actor Clint Eastwood won his bid to become mayor of Carmel, Calif.
In 1988, evangelist Jimmy Swaggart was defrocked as an Assemblies of God minister after rejecting an order from church leaders to stop preaching for a year amid reports he'd consorted with a prostitute.
In 1992, retired tennis star Arthur Ashe announced in New York that he had contracted AIDS from a tainted blood transfusion. Ashe died the following February at age 49.
In 1997, Prime Minister Jean Chretien made his first official state visit to Washington.
In 1998, the Southam newspaper chain, controlled by Conrad Black's Hollinger Inc., announced plans for a new national newspaper based in Toronto. The ``National Post'' debuted in October.
In 2001, Tiger Woods won the PGA season's first major, a two-stroke victory at the Masters. He became the first modern-era golfer to hold all four major championship titles at one time.
In 2003, three journalists were killed and three wounded when U.S. military strikes in Baghdad hit an Arab television network and a hotel where foreign journalists had been covering the war.
In 2005, about 300,000 worshippers and more than 100 world leaders flooded into St. Peter's Square for the funeral of Pope John Paul II, the largest funeral in the history of the Roman Catholic Church. More than four million more people watched the service on large video screens throughout the city. John Paul was buried in the grotto under the basilica.
In 2006, the bodies of eight men, later identified as members of the Bandidos biker gang, were found stuffed in four abandoned cars in the southwestern Ontario village of Shedden in the worst mass killings in Ontario history. Police called the slaughter an ``internal cleansing'' of the gang. In October 2009, six Bandidos members were found guilty of multiple counts of first-degree murder.
In 2007, six Canadian soldiers were killed when their LAV III was hit by roadside bomb in Afghanistan in the worst single-day toll for the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan since the mission began in 2002. The soldiers were David Greenslade, Kevin Kennedy, Donald Lucas, Christopher Stannix, Aaron Williams and Brent Poland.
In 2008, American Airlines grounded all 300 of its MD-80 jetliners amid safety concerns about wiring bundles. The carrier ended up cancelling more than 3,000 flights over the next four days.
In 2010, U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a milestone treaty to shrink their nations' nuclear arsenals, the biggest such pact between the former Cold War foes in a generation. It would allow a limit of 1,550 nuclear warheads per country over seven years, down from 2,200.
In 2010, returning from a five-month layoff and trying to rebuild his reputation after a sex scandal, Tiger Woods shot a 4-under-par 68 -- his best score ever on the first day of the Masters. He finished the tournament tied for fourth.
In 2012, on the second playoff hole, Bubba Watson's amazing wedge hook-shot from the woods settled 10 feet from the pin enabling him to win the Masters over Louis Oosthuizen.
In 2012, Canada's Glenn Howard's draw to the button capped an 8-7 extra-end victory over Scotland's Tom Brewster at the world men's curling championship in Switzerland. It was the fourth career title for the Ontario skip.
In 2013, Margaret Thatcher, Britain's first female prime minister who became known as the Iron Lady, died at age 87. During her 11 years in office, Thatcher transformed a crippled economy by breaking unions and selling off state industries - admired by some as a saviour of Britain but regarded by critics as a heartless tyrant. She also triumphed in the Falklands War.
In 2015, a U.S. federal jury found Dzhokhar Tsarnaev guilty on all 30 charges stemming from the 2013 bombing of the Boston Marathon that killed three people and wounded over 260 others and the killing of an MIT police officer three days later. (He was sentenced to death by lethal injection.)
In 2015, Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte, who oversaw the funerals of NHL great Maurice (Rocket) Richard and former prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau during his 22 years as archbishop of Montreal, died after a lengthy diabetes-related illness. He was 78. During his religious career, he took part in two conclaves that chose the successors to two popes, Jean-Paul II and Benedict XVI.
In 2018, Patrick Reed captured his first major, sinking a 3-foot par putt on the 18th hole to win the Masters by one stroke over Ricky Fowler.
In 2018, Sweden's Niklas Edin won the gold medal at the men's world curling championship, defeating Canada's Brad Gushue 7-3.
In 2018, Kinder Morgan Canada suspended all non-essential activities and related spending on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion in the face of mounting opposition from B.C. The expansion, which would triple the amount of oil flowing from Alberta to Burnaby, B.C., was approved by the federal government in 2016.
In 2019, astronaut David Saint-Jacques became just the fourth Canadian to complete a spacewalk, accomplishing several tasks alongside NASA astronaut Anne McClain in about six-and-a-half hours before returning inside the International Space Station. Saint-Jacques, 49, was the first Canadian to perform a spacewalk since 2007.
In 2021, newly elected Premier Andrew Furey was sworn into office in a small, socially distanced ceremony in St. John's. Furey promised bold decisions to tackle Newfoundland and Labrador's towering financial troubles, which include $16.4 billion in net debt.
In 2021, Alberta's top doctor said the three more contagious variants of COVID-19 in the province had become the dominant strains. Dr. Deena Hinshaw said those who tested positive could assume they were infected with the one first reported in the United Kingdom. The province also had infections linked to the variant first detected in South Africa and the strain first identified in Brazil.
In 2022, the motion picture academy banned Will Smith from attending the Oscars or any other academy event for 10 years, following his slap of host Chris Rock at the Academy Awards.
In 2024, wearing special protective glasses, many curious Canadians turned their eyes to the skies for a total solar eclipse. The rare celestial event produced a "zone of totality" that ran from Mexico's Pacific coast, across the U.S. and into Canada's eastern provinces. Astrophysicist Jedidah Isler sid it was the first total solar eclipse in North America since 2017.
In 2024, the Vatican declared sex-change operations and surrogacy grave threats to human dignity, putting them on par with abortion and euthanasia as practices that violate God’s plan for human life. The Vatican's doctrine office issued its "Infinite Dignity," a 20-page declaration that has been in the works for five years.
In 2024, the federal government announced plans to spend $8.1 billion over the following five years upgrading and modernizing the Canadian military, with an eye to defend Canada's Arctic sovereignty. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the money was part of a larger $73-billion plan over the following 20 years.
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The Canadian Press