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Tag: This Date in History

John’s Believe It Or Not … May 4th

It’s Thursday Already! Did you know…

* 1994 Rabin and Arafat sign accord for Palestinian self-rule. (On May 4, 1994, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat reached agreement in Cairo on the first stage of Palestinian self-rule. The agreement was made in accordance with the Oslo Accords, signed in Washington, D.C.on September 13, 1993. This was the first direct, face-to-face agreement between Israel and the Palestinians and it acknowledged Israel’s right to exist. It was also designed as a framework for future relations between the two parties. The Israeli Defense Forces withdrew from Jericho on May 13 and from most of the Gaza Strip on May 18-19, 1994. Palestinian Authority police and officials immediately took control. During the first few days, there was a spate of attacks on Israeli troops and civilians in and near the Strip. Arafat himself arrived in Gaza to a tumultuous, chaotic welcome on July 1. As time went on, timetables stipulated in the deal were not met, Israel’s re-deployments were slowed and new agreements were negotiated. Israeli critics of the deal claimed “Land for Peace” was in reality “Land for Nothing.” The momentum toward peaceful relations between Israel and the Palestinians was seriously jolted by the outbreak of the 2000 Palestinian uprising, known as “Second Intifada.” Further strain was put on the process after Hamas came to power in the 2006 Palestinian elections.) Continue reading “John’s Believe It Or Not … May 4th”

John’s Believe It Or Not … May 3rd

It’s Hump Day Again! Did you know…

* 1915 Lt.-Col. John McCrae composes “In Flanders Fields”. (“In Flanders Fields” is a war poem in the form of a rondeau, written during the First World War by Canadian physician Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae. He was inspired to write it on May 3, 1915, after presiding over the funeral of a friend and fellow soldier Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, who died in the Second Battle of Ypres. According to legend, fellow soldiers retrieved the poem after McCrae, initially dissatisfied with his work, discarded it. “In Flanders Fields” was first published on December 8 of that year in the London-based magazine Punch. It is one of the most popular and most quoted poems from the war. As a result of its immediate popularity, parts of the poem were used in propaganda efforts and appeals to recruit soldiers and raise money selling war bonds. Its references to the red poppies that grew over the graves of fallen soldiers resulted in the remembrance poppy becoming one of the world’s most recognized memorial symbols for soldiers who have died in conflict. The poem and poppy are prominent Remembrance Day symbols throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, particularly in Canada, where “In Flanders Fields” is one of the nation’s best-known literary works. The poem also has wide exposure in the United States, where it is associated with Memorial Day.) Continue reading “John’s Believe It Or Not … May 3rd”

John’s Believe It Or Not … May 2nd

It’s Tremendous Tuesday! Did you know…

* 1670 – Charles II grants Royal Charter to Prince Rupert and the Hudson’s Bay Company. (King Charles II grants a Royal Charter to his cousin Prince Rupert and a group of investors called The Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson’s Bay: today’s Hudson’s Bay Company. Two French explorers and traders, Pierre-Esprit Radisson and Médard des Groseilliers, proposed the fur-trading company to the group and mounted a successful season of trade a year earlier. The charter gives the company the exclusive monopoly of commerce in lands flowing into Hudson Bay and requires them to search for mines and a route to the South Seas. In exchange, the Company had to pay ‘two Elkes and two Black beavers’ to the King whenever he or his successors visit the territory (a payment that has been made only four times in the Company’s history). In 1859, the HBC’s exclusive trade license expires, and in 1869, the Company agrees to surrender its Rupert’s Land rights to the Crown. In 1870, Manitoba and later the Northwest Territories become part of the new country of Canada. Can anyone tell me the translation of the HBC motto?) Continue reading “John’s Believe It Or Not … May 2nd”

John’s Believe It Or Not… May 1st

Good Monday All! Did you know…

* 1912 – Dominion of Canada issues first $5 bill, replacing the $4 one. (The Dominion of Canada issued five dollar bills for the first time in 1912. Many collectors see these notes and think they are incomplete because they do not feature a portrait. Each note has a simple vignette of a train. The train is the Ocean Limited and it is traveling on the Intercolonial Railway through the Wentworth Valley in Nova Scotia. These bank notes are relatively available in all grades, but that does not mean they are always cheap. Upon Confederation in 1867, the name Canada was officially adopted for the new Dominion, which was commonly referred to as the Dominion of Canada until after World War II.) Continue reading “John’s Believe It Or Not… May 1st”

John’s Believe It Or Not… April 30th

Happy Sunday To You! Did you know…

* 311 Roman Emperor Galerius issues Edict of Toleration, ending the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. (The Edict of Toleration by Galerius was issued in 311 in Serdica (today Sofia, Bulgaria) by the Roman emperor Galerius, officially ending the Diocletianic persecution of Christianity. The Edict implicitly granted Christianity the status of “religio licita”, a worship recognized and accepted by the Roman Empire. It was the first edict legalizing Christianity, preceding the Edict of Milan by two years.) Continue reading “John’s Believe It Or Not… April 30th”

John’s Believe It Or Not… April 29th

Happy Saturday! Did you know…

* 1429 Joan of Arc relieves Orleans. (During the Hundred Years’ War, the 17-year-old French peasant Joan of Arc leads a French force in relieving the city of Orleans, besieged by the English since October. At the age of 16, “voices” of Christian saints told Joan to aid Charles, the French dauphin, in gaining the French throne and expelling the English from France. Convinced of the validity of her divine mission, Charles furnished Joan with a small force of troops. She led her troops to Orleans, and on April 29, as a French sortie distracted the English troops on the west side of the city, Joan entered unopposed by its eastern gate. Bringing needed supplies and troops into the besieged city, she also inspired the French to a passionate resistance and through the next week led the charge during a number of skirmishes and battles. On one occasion, she was even hit by an arrow, but after dressing her wounds she returned to the battle. On May 8, the siege of Orleans was broken, and the English retreated.) Continue reading “John’s Believe It Or Not… April 29th”

John’s Believe It Or Not… April 28th

We Made It – It’s Friday! Did you know…

* 1891 – Shipping – RMS Empress of India in Vancouver. (She is the first of the Canadian Pacific Steamships “Empress” liners to arrive at Vancouver Harbour, via the Suez Canal and Hong Kong; carries 486 passengers and a cargo of tea and silk. RMS Empress of Japan will arrive on June 2, followed by RMS Empress of China; Canadian Pacific Steamships had signed a contract for subsidized mail service between Britain and Hong Kong via Canada. Vancouver, BC) Continue reading “John’s Believe It Or Not… April 28th”

John’s Believe It Or Not… April 27th

It’s Thursday Already! Did you know…

* 1967 – Prime Minister Lester Pearson officially opens l’Exposition Universelle de Montréal – Expo ’67. (Expo 67, the “Universal and International Exhibition,” was the highlight of Canada’s Centennial celebrations in 1967. Senator Mark Drouin of Québec first developed the idea of a world exhibition in Montréal to serve as a focal point for Canada’s celebrations of its 100th birthday. Senator Drouin and Senator Sarto Fournier, former mayor of Montréal, first presented the idea to the Bureau International des Expositions in Paris, but that body initially decided that the 1967 world exhibition should be held in Moscow. In late 1962, however, the USSR canceled its plans and Montréal’s mayor, Jean Drapeau, made a fresh presentation to the BIE and the exhibition was awarded to Canada. That Expo 67 was sanctioned by the BIE virtually assured participation by a majority of the countries of the world. What is more, the BIE designated it as an exhibition of the “first category,” the first to be held in North America. The most important aspect of this “first category” classification is that the exposition must cover the full range of activities of contemporary man.) Continue reading “John’s Believe It Or Not… April 27th”

John’s Believe It Or Not… April 26th

It’s Hump Day Wednesday! Did you know…

* April 26, 1783 – The first “spring fleet” sails from New York with 7,000 loyalists, men, women, children, and servants. (When the terms of peace became known, tens of thousands of the Loyalists shook the dust of their ungrateful country from their feet, never to return. Of these the more influential part, both during and after the war, sailed for England. The royal officials, the wealthy merchants, landowners, and professional men; the high military officers–these went to England to press their claims for compensation and preferment. The humbler element, for the most part, migrated to the remaining British colonies in North America. About two hundred families went to the West Indies, a few to Newfoundland, many to what were afterward called Upper and Lower Canada, and a vast army to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. On April 26, 1783, the first or ‘spring’ fleet set sail. It had on board no less than seven thousand persons, men, women, children, and servants. Half of these went to the mouth of the river St John, and about half to Port Roseway, at the southwest end of the Nova Scotian peninsula. The voyage was fair, and the ships arrived at their destinations without mishap. But at St John at least, the colonists found that almost no preparations had been made to receive them. They were disembarked on a wild and primeval shore, where they had to clear away the brushwood before they could pitch their tents or build their shanties. The prospect must have been disheartening. ‘Nothing but wilderness before our eyes, the women and children did not refrain from tears,’ wrote one of the exiles; and the grandmother of Sir Leonard Tilley used to tell her descendants, ‘I climbed to the top of Chipman’s Hill and watched the sails disappearing in the distance, and such a feeling of loneliness came over me that, although I had not shed a tear through all the war, I sat down on the damp moss with my baby in my lap and cried.’)
Continue reading “John’s Believe It Or Not… April 26th”

John’s Believe It Or Not… April 25th

It’s Tuesday Already! Did you know…

* 1849 – Lord Elgin signs Rebellion Losses Bill; Tory mobs set fire to the Legislature. (Elgin signs the Rebellion Losses Bill, providing payment for people who lost property in the rebellions of 1837-1838, including rebels. Angry Tory mobs are furious the Queen’s representative would sign a bill rewarding treason. They throw garbage and dead rats at members of the Assembly and pelt an official reading the Riot Act with onions. That night, the mobs set fire to the Legislature in the St. Anne’s Market, destroying parliamentary and government records; the official portrait of Queen Victoria is rescued from the flames by a young engineer named Sandford Fleming. Lord Elgin barely escapes. As a result of this lack of public security in Montreal, the government decides to move to Toronto; so begins the period of wandering government, when Kingston and Quebec City will also share the duties of being the capital of the Canadas. The story of the wandering government of the united Canadas [present-day Ontario & Quebec] is a tale for another day. Who says Canadian history is boring?) Continue reading “John’s Believe It Or Not… April 25th”