Today in History for April 24:
In 1626, French explorer Samuel de Champlain sailed from Dieppe on his 11th voyage to Canada.
In 1800, the U.S. Library of Congress was established in Washington, D.C. It's the world's largest library, with an estimated 80 million items.
In 1898, Spain declared war on the United States after rejecting America's ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba. The United States responded in kind the next day.
In 1915, Turkey began the mass deportation of Armenians during the First World War. Hundreds of thousands of Armenians are believed to have died en route.
In 1916, Irish nationalists in Dublin launched the "Easter Rising," which was put down by British forces several days later and led to a number of executions for treason.
In 1928, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that women were not persons under the British North America Act and therefore could not hold office. In 1929, the ruling was overturned by the British Privy Council.
In 1942, "Anne of Green Gables" author Lucy Maud Montgomery died in Toronto at age 68.
In 1951, the 2nd Batallion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry won a U.S. presidential citation for its efforts in repelling Chinese and North Korean forces in the Battle of Kapyong in South Korea.
In 1952, the first shipment of oil from Alberta by pipeline and freighter arrived in Sarnia, Ont.
In 1953, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was knighted by Queen Elizabeth.
In 1962, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology achieved the first satellite relay of a television signal, between Camp Parks, Calif., and Westford, Mass.
In 1967, Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov became the first known space fatality when his re-entry parachute tangled.
In 1970, China launched its first satellite, which transmitted a popular Communist song, "The East is Red."
In 1974, comedian Bud Abbott of "Abbott and Costello" died in Woodland Hills, Calif. He was 78.
In 1980, an attempt to rescue American hostages in Iran ended in tragedy. Eight U.S. servicemen died when an army helicopter collided with a transport plane in the Iranian desert. The mission's eight helicopters that were recalled had been called back after three suffered technical failures.
In 1985, a Supreme Court of Canada ruling struck down the "Lord's Day Act." The court ruled in a 6-0 decision on an Alberta case that the Act violated the freedom of conscience and religion as guaranteed in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The decision allowed Alberta to go ahead with Sunday shopping.
In 1986, Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor, died in Paris at age 89. King Edward VIII abdicated less than a year after acceding to the throne in 1936 to marry the American divorcee. He said he could not go on without the "woman I love." He was granted the title Duke of Windsor and died in 1972.
In 1990, the shuttle "Discovery" blasted off with the $1.5 billion Hubble Space Telescope. Various problems -- so-called "Hubble troubles" -- were rectified by the crew of a 1993 shuttle mission.
In 1990, violence erupted at the Akwesasne reserve, as Mohawks clashed over gambling on the New York portion of the reserve. The reserve straddles the Ontario-Quebec-New York border. Dozens of cars and a police station were damaged by an explosive device.
In 1992, the Hughes report confirmed assertions of former Mount Cashel residents that they suffered physical and sexual abuse at the Newfoundland orphanage run by Christian Brothers.
In 1998, traditional trading on the floor of the Toronto Stock Exchange was closed to make way for a more efficient, but less colourful, computerized trading system. The move made it the largest North American stock exchange operating in a completely electronic trading environment.
In 2000, Nguyen Thi Hiep was executed by firing squad in Hanoi, Vietnam, for heroin smuggling. She's believed to be the only Canadian citizen executed anywhere in the world on a drug-related charge.
In 2001, an open revolt broke out in the Canadian Alliance caucus against leader Stockwell Day. MPs Deborah Grey, Chuck Strahl and Grant McNally resigned their party positions, saying they couldn't fully support Day.
In 2003, Federal Fisheries Minister Robert Thibault announced a fishing ban off the northeast coast of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Gulf of St. Lawrence because of depleted stocks. The move closed 16 plants, most of them in Quebec and N.L., putting about 700 people out of work.
In 2003, Serbian police filed charges against former president Slobodan Milosevic and several of his allies in the 2000 abduction and killing of former Serbian president Ivan Stambolic.
In 2005, Benedict XV1 was installed as Pope. (He resigned Feb. 28, 2013, the first pontiff to do so since 1415.)
In 2012, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird announced Canada suspended most of its sanctions against Myanmar in recognition of the country's moves towards democracy, although an embargo would be maintained on sales of arms and military technology.
In 2013, an illegally constructed eight-storey building in Bangladesh, housing garment factories that supplied clothes to North American companies, collapsed and killed 1,129 people. Factories kept more than 2,000 people working even though an evacuation order was issued the day before because deep cracks were visible in the walls.
In 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump faced criticism after openly wondering during a press conference with doctors if disinfectants could be injected into COVID-19 patients to treat them for the illness. Health experts and disinfectant producers issued warnings that cleaning chemicals are highly toxic and should not be injected or digested under any circumstances.
In 2021, Ontario reported a second case of a rare blood clotting condition stemming from the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, chief medical officer of health for Hamilton, said a man in his 60s was diagnosed after his first dose of the vaccine.
In 2021, Federal Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole and his wife, Rebecca, received their first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 shot from a masked and shielded health-care worker while sitting in their car.
In 2023, the federal auditor general said there would be no investigation into private donations received by the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation. Donations to the foundation from two Chinese businessmen made in 2016 and 2017 were under scrutiny for their possible links to the Chinese government.
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The Canadian Press