Author: Martin D'Anjou

Former five-weight world boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. defeats MMA fighter Conor McGregor in his debut match in the 10th round in Las Vegas.

“Birdman” directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and starring Michael Keaton and Zach Galifianakis premieres at the Venice Film Festival (Best Picture 2015).

Stevie Ray Vaughan was killed when the helicopter he was flying in, hit a man-made ski slope while trying to navigate through dense fog. Vaughan had played a show at Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, Wisconsin.

Rickey Henderson steals 119th base of season breaks Lou Brock’s mark.

Walt Disney’s “Mary Poppins” directed by Robert Stevenson and starring Julie Andrews and Dick van Dyke premieres in Los Angeles.

“Guinness Book of World Records” 1st published.

First flight of the turbojet-powered Heinkel He 178, the world’s first jet aircraft.

The shortest war in world history (09:00 to 09:45), between the United Kingdom and Zanzibar.

Petroleum is discovered in Titusville, Pennsylvania leading to the world’s first commercially successful oil well.

San Francisco 49ers Colin Kaepernick kneels in protest during the US national anthem at San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium while playing against the San Diego Chargers, objecting to racial injustice and police brutality in the US.

Burger King agrees to purchase Canadian donut chain Tim Hortons for $11.4 billion.

Papal conclave: Pope John Paul I is elected to the Papacy.

Quebec government adopts Bill 101 (La Charte de la langue française); French becomes the official language of Quebec.

XX Summer Olympic Games open in Munich, West Germany.

Bobby Orr signs a five-year contract with the Boston Bruins worth one million dollars, the first million dollar contract in NHL history.

“Hey Jude” single released by the Beatles (Billboard Song of the Year 1968, Billboard 10th biggest song of all time 2013).

The International Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto opened.

British Motor Corporation introduces the Morris Mini-Minor, designed by Alec Issigonis, it was only 10 ft long but seated 4 passengers.

The Japanese were given surrender instructions on the U.S. battleship Missouri at the end of World War II.

Montreal Maroons hockey team dropped from the NHL due to financial troubles.

Charles Thurber patents a typewriter.

Voyager 1 spacecraft, becomes the 1st spacecraft to enter interstellar space (launched in 1977).

Linus Torvalds announces the first version of what will become Linux.

Elton John’s 1st US appearance (Los Angeles).

Arthur Ashe becomes 1st African American to win the US singles championship.

XVII Summer Olympic Games open in Rome, Italy.

Momofuku Ando markets the first package of precooked instant noodles (Chikin Ramen).

Ben Hogan won the PGA in Portland, OR. It was his first major golf title.

Paris, France, was liberated by Allied forces ending four years of German occupation.

The movie “Wizard of Oz” opened around the United States.

Hundreds of French colonists arrive in Louisiana; New Orleans founded.

Galileo Galilei demonstrates his first telescope to Venetian lawmakers.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announces that for the 1st time 1 billion people logged into Facebook.

Steve Jobs resigns as CEO of Apple Inc., and is succeeded by Tim Cook, as a result of his illness.

Air Transat Flight 236 runs out of fuel over the Atlantic Ocean (en route to Lisbon from Toronto) and makes an emergency landing in the Azores.

Microsoft debuts Windows 95.

Hurricane Andrew hits South Florida, making landfall at Elliott Key and later Homestead; 44 die and $25 billion in damage is recorded.

Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as head of USSR Communist Party.

Pete Rose, the manager of the Cincinnati Reds, was banned from baseball for life after being accused of gambling on baseball.

Mark David Chapman is sentenced to 20 yrs to life for John Lennon’s murder.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) went into effect.

Workers start pouring concrete for Panama Canal.

Thomas Edison patents motion picture camera.

Cornelius Swarthout patents stove-top waffle iron.

A patent for the waffle iron was received by Cornelius Swarthout.

1st potato chips prepared by chef George Crum at Moon’s Lake House, near Saratoga Springs, New York.

The printing of the Gutenberg Bible was completed.

Mount Vesuvius erupted killing approximately 20,000 people. The cities of Pompeii, Stabiae and Herculaneum were buried in volcanic ash.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is overthrown after the National Transitional Council forces take control of Bab al-Azizia compound during the 2011 Libyan civil war.

Hashtag invented and first used in a tweet by US product designer Chris Messina.

Fire ignites thousands of litres of oil laced with PCBs at a storage dump in St-Basile-le-Grand, SE of Montreal, forcing 3,000 residents to evacuate for 19 days; local labourer later admits to arson.

Trans Canada Airlines starts transatlantic service; now Air Canada.

Hard D. Weed patented the grip-tread tire chain for cars.

British capture Hong Kong from China.

Habitants of New France required to give 1/26 of their harvest to their seigneur (le dîme).

“The Scream” (1910 painted version) and “Madonna”, two paintings by Edvard Munch, are stolen at gunpoint from the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway.

DNA testing links O.J. Simpson to murder of Nicole Simpson & Ron Goldman.

Beatles give their first Canadian concert in Empire Stadium before 20,000 fans.

Vietnam conflict begins as Ho Chi Minh leads a successful coup.

Cadillac Motor Company is founded.

Alfred Bessette takes vows; becomes Frère André.

A patent for liquid soap was received by William Sheppard.

The American colonies were proclaimed to be in a state of open rebellion by England’s King George III.

St Columba reports seeing monster in Loch Ness.

Hundreds of people are reported killed by chemical attacks in the Ghouta region of Syria.

“How You Remind Me” single released by Nickelback (Billboard Song of the Year 2002)»

Forest fire forces evacuation of the village of Parent.

“Dirty Dancing” film directed by Emile Ardolino, starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey opens in the US.

First Gap clothing store opens in Ocean Avenue, San Francisco.

Motown releases what would be its first #1 hit, “Please Mr. Postman” by The Marvelettes.

Walt Disney’s animated movie “Bambi”, based on the book by Felix Salten, is released.

“Mona Lisa” stolen from the Louvre by Vincenzo Perugia (Recovered in 1913).

Oldsmobile, a brand of American automobiles was founded.

The adding machine was patented by William Burroughs.

12th Athletics World Championships: Usain Bolt wins 200m with a new world record 19.19.

PGA Championship Men’s Golf, Valhalla GC: Tiger Woods becomes first since Ben Hogan (1953) to win 3 majors in a calendar year; wins back-to-back PGA titles in 3-hole playoff with Bob May.

Canada’s Supreme Court announced that Quebec could not secede without the federal government’s consent.

Federal government slaps a total ban on smoking in public service offices.

During the night 250,000 Soviet and Warsaw Pact troops invade Czechoslovakia in response to the Prague Spring.

Rolling Stones release their single “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (their 1st #1 US hit) in the UK.

France fell to the Germans during World War II.

American Professional Football Association forms, which would later become the National Football League (NFL).

German forces occupied Brussels, Belgium, during World War I.

Dial telephone patented.

Charles Darwin first publishes his theory of evolution through natural selection in The Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London.

“The Fame”, debut album by Lady Gaga, is released (Grammy Award Album of the Year, Best Electronic/Dance Album 2009).

German Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher wins the Hungarian Grand prix at the Hungaroring to clinch his 4th F1 World Drivers Championship and equal Alain Prost’s record of 51 Grand Prix victories.

Former Canadiens star Guy Lafleur signs with the New York Rangers.

All-star Baseball pitcher Claude ‘Frenchy’ Raymond, native of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, joins Montreal Expos after playing for the Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Braves, Houston Astros and Chicago White Sox.

Sputnik program: Korabl-Sputnik 2 – the Soviet Union launches the satellite with the dogs Belka and Strelka, 40 mice, 2 rats and a variety of plants.

About 6,000 Canadian and British soldiers launched a raid against the Germans at Dieppe, France. They suffered about 50 percent casualties.

Adolf Hitler was approved for sole executive power in Germany as Fuehrer.

The first car race to be run on brick occurred at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Larry Bird, after 13 years with the Boston Celtics, announced his retirement.

Pete Rose sets record with his 13,941st plate appearance. He holds the record with 15,890 career plate appearances.

Woodstock Music & Art Fair closes with Jimi Hendrix / Band of Gypsys as the final act.

The first pictures of earth taken from moon orbit were sent back to the U.S.

South Africa banned from Olympic Games because of apartheid policies.

French astronomer Pierre Janssen discovers helium.