Today in History for June 10:
On this date:
In 1650, the Jesuits closed their mission in Huronia, now Midland, Ont., which had been established in 1623. They returned to Quebec carrying the bleached bones of two martyrs, Fathers Jean de Brebeuf and Jerome Lalament, who had been tortured and killed by the Iroquois.
In 1692, during the Salem, Mass., witch trials, Bridget Bishop became the first of 19 suspected witches to be hanged.
In 1791, the Constitutional Act was passed, providing for the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, each with a separate government.
In 1857, the Quebec communities of St. Hyacinthe and Trois-Rivieres were incorporated as cities.
In 1884, Louis Riel left a teaching post in Montana for Canada to lead what was to become the Northwest Rebellion. He had been teaching at the Catholic mission of St. Peter's on the Sun River for about a year, but the job paid poorly and he didn't have time to pursue such interests as politics.
In 1925, the United Church of Canada held its inaugural service in Toronto. The church was formed by the merger of the Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregationalist churches.
In 1930, the Winnipeg Rugby Football Club was founded. It was the forerunner of the CFL's Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
In 1935, Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in Akron, Ohio, by William Wilson and Dr. Robert Smith.
In 1937, Sir Robert Borden, Canada's prime minister from 1911-20, died of heart failure at age 82.
In 1940, Italy declared war on France and Britain. The same day, Canada declared war on Italy.
In 1957, John Diefenbaker's Conservatives ended 22 years of Liberal rule in Ottawa with a stunning election victory. Diefenbaker formed a minority government 11 days later, and remained in power until 1963.
In 1971, Canada and the U.S. agreed in principle on a joint attack on pollution in the Great Lakes. The same day, Ottawa established the Department of the Environment.
In 1985, Canadian publishing magnate Conrad Black bought 14 per cent of London's "Daily Telegraph" newspaper for $17 million. Black later purchased majority control of the paper.
In 1985, socialite Claus von Bulow was acquitted by a jury in Providence, R.I., at his retrial on charges he had tried to murder his heiress wife, Martha "Sunny" von Bulow.
In 1992, Canada won a contentious boundary dispute with France over waters off southern Newfoundland. The International Court of Arbitration confined French territory to a 24-nautical-mile patch of ocean around the French islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon. France was also given a narrow, 200-mile-long corridor stretching south. The ruling gave France only about 18 per cent of what it was seeking.
In 1998, a study found the level of arsenic contamination in the soil around Nova Scotia's infamous Sydney Tar Ponds was 18 times higher than the national average.
In 2002, John Gotti, the mob boss known as the "Teflon Don," died in a prison hospital in Springfield, Miss., at age 61.
In 2003, Michael Leshner and Michael Start became Canada's first same-sex couple to legally wed. Their quick civil ceremony in Toronto came just hours after Ontario's Court of Appeal pronounced the Canadian law on traditional marriage unconstitutional.
In 2010, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld an accused person's right to have an automatic publication ban on evidence at their bail hearing.
In 2010, Vujadin Popovic and Ljubia Beara, two former high-ranking security officers with the Bosnian Serb army, were convicted of genocide and sentenced to life in prison for the 1995 massacre of 8,000 Muslims in Srebrenica — the harshest judgment ever delivered by the UN war crimes tribunal on the Balkan wars. Brigade security commander Drago Nikolic was given a 35-year prison sentence for aiding and abetting genocide.
In 2016, Detroit Red Wings legend Gordie Howe, who set scoring records that stood for decades, died at age 88. "Mr. Hockey" played 32 pro hockey seasons and won the NHL scoring title and MVP award six times each. He was 52, and a grandfather, when he finally retired in 1980 - eight years after he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame and nine years after being appointed into the Order of Canada.
In 2017, Tapwrit overtook favoured Irish War Cry in the stretch to win the Belmont Stakes by two lengths in the final leg of thoroughbred horse racing's Triple Crown.
In 2017, unseeded 20-year-old Jelena Ostapenko beat third-seeded Simona Halep in the French Open women's final for her first career title.
In 2018, "The Band's Visit" won 10 statuettes at the Tony Awards, including best musical, best actor in a musical (Tony Shalhoub), best actress in a musical (Katrina Lenk) and best direction of a musical (David Cromer).
In 2018, Rafael Nadal defeated Dominic Thiem in straight sets to win his 11th French Open men's title and 17th career Grand Slam trophy.
In 2018, Sebastian Vettel kept the lead from the pole position and coasted to victory at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, the 50th Formula 1 victory of his career.
In 2019, Ottawa announced its intention to ban single-use plastics as early as 2021. The details of how such a ban would be implemented weren't unveiled but the government said it would conduct research to determine the best course of action, which it says would be grounded in scientific evidence. Less than 10 per cent of plastic used in Canada gets recycled, and without any change in habits, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canadians would be throwing out 11-billion dollars worth of plastic products by 2030. The products could include such single-use items as drinking straws, water bottles, plastic bags, cutlery, stir sticks and fast food containers.
In 2021, a Canadian neo-Nazi group member who talked of planning an attack at a Virginia gun rights rally pleaded guilty to gun charges and obstruction of justice. Patrik Jordan Mathews, a 28-year-old former Canadian Armed Forces reservist, and two other members of The Base were arrested on federal charges in Maryland. Mathews pleaded guilty to illegally possessing and transporting a firearm, and obstruction of justice.
In 2021, New Brunswick MP Jenica Atwin shocked the Green Party when she announced that she was defecting to the Liberals. Green Leader Annamie Paul had said she was disappointed but took Atwin at her word that the decision was not a result of her leadership.
In 2021, a parliamentary committee issued a scathing report on the Trudeau government's deal with WE Charity. The report included calls for stronger measures to protect against inappropriate lobbying and conflicts of interest.
In 2022, Carl Girouard, 26, the man who used a sword to murder and maim people in Quebec City on Halloween 2020, was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 25 years. Quebec Superior Court Justice Richard Grenier delivered the sentence. A jury convicted Girouard last month on two counts of first-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder. The sword attacks began in front of Le Chateau Frontenac hotel in the city's historic quarter.
In 2023, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a surprise visit to Kyiv in Ukraine meant to show Canada's solidarity with the country's ongoing efforts to push back against Russia's invasion.
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The Canadian Press