Today in History for March 11:
In 843, Eastern churches officially reintroduced and sanctioned icons, after an 89-year controversy.
In 1302, according to Shakespeare, Romeo Monteveccio and Juliet Cappelleto were married in Citadela, Italy.
In 1702, the first British daily newspaper, "The Daily Courant," appeared.
In 1756, the Marquis de Montcalm was appointed field commander of French forces in New France. He was killed during the 1759 British conquest of Quebec City.
In 1818, British author Mary Shelley's novel "Frankenstein" was first published.
In 1835, the first formal police force in Canada was established in Toronto.
In 1848, Louis LaFontaine and Robert Baldwin were sworn in to form the first responsible government of the two united Canadas. It was the second administration headed by the two men, known as the "Great Administration."
In 1850, Richard Blanshard arrived on Vancouver Island and read the proclamation establishing a colony, with himself as its first governor.
In 1860, H. Frances Davidson, a pioneer missionary, was born. In 1892, she became the first woman from the Brethren in Christ Church to earn a master's degree, and in 1897 became one of her denomination's first missionaries to travel to the African continent. The Brethren in Christ Church began about 1780 in Lancaster County, Penn., when a group of Mennonites became dissatisfied with the lack of spiritual passion in the church.
In 1865, the Assembly of Canada voted 91-33 for Confederation.
In 1879, Guelph, Ont., was incorporated as a city.
In 1888, a blizzard swept most of the U.S. eastern seaboard, claiming 400 lives. In New York City, snowdrifts were six metres high. Thousands of people were marooned in their homes, the stock exchange shut down, telegraph communications were halted and rail travel ground to a standstill.
In 1908, Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier created the National Battlefields Commission, largely to prevent the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City from falling into the hands of speculators.
In 1917, a four-day revolt by the Russian armed forces began. It forced Czar Nicholas II to abdicate.
In 1927, the world's largest movie theatre opened in New York. The Roxy, also known as "The Cathedral of the Motion Picture," cost $10 million to build and seated more than 6,200.
In 1931, Quebec extended civil rights to women, although it still withheld the right to vote.
In 1935, the Bank of Canada began operating after a royal commission recommended the establishment of a central bank. Initially privately owned, the bank was nationalized by 1938. The bank issues paper currency, sets the bank rate, controls the amount of money in circulation and acts as banker for the federal government.
In 1942, as Japanese forces continued to advance in the Pacific during the Second World War, General Douglas MacArthur left the Philippines for Australia. MacArthur, who subsequently vowed, "I shall return," kept that promise more than two-and-a-half years later.
In 1947, Toronto gave newly crowned world figure skating champion Barbara Ann Scott a ticker-tape parade. The following year, the Ottawa native won the Olympic gold medal.
In 1949, Canada, Britain, the U.S., France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Norway completed drafting the North Atlantic Security Treaty.
In 1959, Ernie Richardson's Regina team won the first world men's curling championship in Scotland. The Brier winners beat the Scottish champions five straight times in the inaugural Scotch Cup matches. The Richardson team repeated as Canadian and world champions in 1960, '62 and '63.
In 1975, the first Canadian legislature with a majority of First Nations representatives was elected in the Northwest Territories. Inuit, Indian or Metis councillors were elected in nine of the 15 territorial constituencies. They comprised the first fully elected legislature in the northern territory.
In 1982, Israel and Egypt ended more than 30 years of official hostilities. Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat signed a peace treaty in Washington.
In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev, at 54, the youngest member of the ruling Politburo, became the leader of the Soviet Union following the death of Konstantin Chernenko.
In 1987, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney told the premiers it would be his government's decision whether to proceed with a free-trade agreement with the United States. In a private meeting, Mulroney was said to have agreed to seek consensus with the premiers but rejected provincial demands for a formal ratification mechanism to ensure provincial support.
In 1990, Mohawks erected a barricade across a dirt road barring access to land they claimed near Oka, Que.
In 1992, Environment Canada began issuing weekly ozone warnings.
In 1993, Kurt Browning won his fourth world figure skating championship title.
In 1996, the Montreal Canadiens played their last game at the 72-year-old Montreal Forum. They defeated the Dallas Stars 4-1.
In 1997, Premier Ralph Klein's Conservatives were re-elected with a massive majority in Alberta's general election.
In 1999, Camille Laurin, pioneer of the modern-day Quebec independence movement and architect of Quebec's French Language Charter, died at age 76.
In 2003, Libya reached agreement with the U.S. and Britain to accept responsibility for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 that killed 270 people. Libya agreed to pay US$10-million compensation to the families of each victim in return for the lifting of UN and U.S. sanctions.
In 2004, a series of bombs shattered commuter trains and railway stations across Madrid, killing 191 people and injuring more than 1,400 in Spain's worst terrorist attack ever.
In 2004, the NHL suspended Vancouver Canucks' Todd Bertuzzi for the rest of the regular season and the playoffs for his vicious attack on Steve Moore of the Colorado Avalanche during a game in Vancouver and fined the club US$250,000.
In 2005, discount airline Jetsgo declared bankruptcy -- leaving thousands of passengers stranded.
In 2006, former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic, the so-called "butcher of the Balkans," was found dead in his prison cell in the Netherlands. The 64-year-old was being tried for war crimes after orchestrating a decade of bloodshed during his country's breakup.
In 2007, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Ontario Securities Commission filed civil fraud charges against four former executives of Canada's Nortel Networks, including ex-CEO Frank Dunn, after probing years of financial accounting and restatements at the telecommunications equipment maker. (In January 2013, the four were found not guilty.)
In 2009, a shooting rampage by a former student at his high school in Winnenden, Germany, left the teenage gunman and 14 others dead.
In 2009, Iraq's top court sentenced Tariq Aziz, one of the closest advisers to former dictator Saddam Hussein, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in the execution of 42 merchants.
In 2010, Canada ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on the eve of the Paralympic Games in Vancouver.
In 2010, a Nunavut jury found Pingoatuk Kolola guilty of first-degree murder for shooting RCMP Const. Doug Scott in the head while the officer sat in his police truck on the night of Nov. 5, 2007, in Kimmirut on Baffin Island.
In 2011, a catastrophic 9.0 magnitude offshore earthquake struck Japan, triggering a massive tsunami that carved a path of destruction along the country's northeastern coast and touched off the worst nuclear crisis since Chornobyl in 1986. The disaster left more than 21,000 people dead or missing and thousands of buildings and homes damaged or destroyed. After a tsunami struck the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Plant, three of its six reactors later melted down, releasing massive amounts of radiation and forcing the government to order the evacuation of a 20-km radius around the plant. Some Japanese officials said it could be years before 100,000 people forced into temporary homes or shelters would be able to return. The cost of rebuilding was pegged at US$310 billion, making it the most costly natural disaster on record.
In 2011, Sen. Raymond Lavigne, 65, was found guilty of fraud and breach of trust for misusing Senate resources and pocketing expenses that were actually run up by his staff. The former Liberal MP resigned his Senate seat on March 21 and was sentenced on June 16th to six months in jail and six months of house arrest and ordered to donate $10,000 to charity.
In 2012, sixteen Afghan villagers — mostly women and children — were shot dead as they slept by U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, who later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
In 2014, Canada and South Korea announced they concluded a free trade deal, Canada's first such foray into the Asia-Pacific region. It was signed in September.
In 2018, at the Canadian Screen Awards, "Maudie," starring Sally Hawkins as real-life Nova Scotia folk artist Maud Lewis and Ethan Hawke as her fish peddler husband, took a leading seven film trophies, including best picture as well as best actress for Hawkins and best supporting actor for Hawke.
In 2018, Canadian skier Kurt Oatway raced to gold in men's sitting Super G at the Pyeongchang Paraympic Games while Alana Ramsay won bronze in the women's standing Super-G.
In 2018, Brad Gushue earned his second consecutive Canadian men's curling championship when his final stone drew the button for a 6-4 victory over Alberta's Brendan Bottcher.
In 2018, Paul Casey rallied from five shots back and closed with a 6-under 65 to win the Valspar Championship by one shot over Tiger Woods and Patrick Reed. Corey Conners, the Canadian rookie who started the final round with a one-shot lead, shot six-over and tied for 16th.
In 2018, golfer Jerry Anderson, the first Canadian to win on the European Tour after he shot a 27-under par at the Ebel European Masters – Swiss Open in 1984, died at the age of 62. He competed on the PGA Tour in 1990 and 1992 and won the Nationwide Tour's Ben Hogan Texarkana Open in 1991. He also represented Canada at the Alfred Dunhill Cup in 1985 and at the World Cup in 1983, 1987, and 1989. He was inducted in the Ontario Golf Hall of Fame in 2002 and the PGA of Canada Hall of Fame in 2016.
In 2018, Sebastien Bourdais captured his second consecutive IndyCar victory at St. Petersburg. Pole sitter Robert Wickens of Toronto finished a heartbreaking 18th in his debut after contact with Alexander Rossi on a restart took him out of contention after leading for 69 of the 110 laps.
In 2020, Air Canada cancelled an order for 11 Boeing 737 Max jets. The plane was grounded worldwide following two crashes.
In 2020, a scathing report into the troubled Muskrat Falls hydro project said past provincial governments failed to protect the residents of Newfoundland and Labrador.
In 2020, the World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for countries to take urgent and aggressive action, stating the agency has rung the alarm bell loud and clear.
In 2020, Academy Award winner Tom Hanks and actress-singer Rita Wilson isolated themselves after they both tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
In 2020, disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison for raping an aspiring actress in 2013 and sexually assaulting a TV and film production assistant in 2006.
In 2020, Russia's parliament gave the green light to sweeping constitutional reform that allows President Vladimir Putin to stay in power for another 12 years after his current term ends in 2024.
In 2020, the NBA announced the indefinite suspension of its regular season after a Utah Jazz player, Rudy Gobert, tested positive for COVID-19. The world figure skating championships in Montreal were also cancelled.
In 2021, Prince William defended the monarchy against accusations of racism made by his brother and sister-in-law. William became the first royal to address the allegations made in Prince Harry and Meghan's interview with Oprah Winfrey. He and his wife Kate visited an East London school, and a reporter asked him if the royal family is a racist family. William replied "No, we're very much not a racist family'' and said he hasn't spoken to Harry yet but that he will do so.
In 2021, Canada marked a national day of observance of the first anniversary of COVID-19 being declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. Across Canada flags flew at half mast and wreaths were laid at memorials. In the Commons, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canadians have stepped up in many ways to support each other. He recognized how people cheered from balconies for healthcare workers -- who he calls the heroes of the pandemic. The prime minister described the previous 12 months as "a tough year, a heartbreaking year, but it is a year we have faced together.''
In 2022, five new Russian oligarchs were added to the Canadian sanctions list over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including a major shareholder in a British multinational manufacturing company that operates a steel mill in Regina. Before leaving Warsaw following his four-country trip of Europe that week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the penalties against Roman Abramovich for his close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The British government said Abramovich was using Evraz -- one of Regina's largest employers -- to help destabilize Ukraine during Russia's invasion, and also sanctioned Abramovich over his close ties with the Kremlin.
In 2023, Meta promised to stop making news content available on Facebook and Instagram if Parliament passed the Online News Act without making any changes. Facebook blocked access to news in Australia after a similar law was discussed in 2021, but quickly backtracked after the government there made changes to an arbitration mechanism in the bill. Meta says the act will require it to pay publishers for links or content it doesn't post. But the Trudeau government says it will help Canadian media companies compete with tech giants for advertising dollars.
In 2024, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his country had successfully conducted its first test flight of a domestically developed missile that can carry multiple warheads. India has been developing its medium- and long-range missile systems since the 1990s as its strategic competition with China grows. Three years prior it successfully tested a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile that is believed to be capable of targeting nearly all of China.
In 2024, Canada pledged $1 million to support women sexually assaulted by Hamas militants during the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.
In 2024, Ottawa said the lucrative elver fishery would stay closed for the 2024 season. Federal fisheries minister Diane Lebouthillier said confrontations and violent incidents have created what she called an immediate threat to public safety and the management of the fishery. Elvers are young and translucent eels that migrate up Maritime coastal rivers in the spring where they are easily caught in nets or buckets.
In 2024, the federal ombudsperson for victims of crime launched a probe into how Canada's justice system treats sexual assault survivors. Benjamin Roebuck said victims' rights are often ignored and that survivors say the system doesn't make them feel safe. He said the idea that survivors will have a painful experience navigating the justice system has become normalized.
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The Canadian Press