On this day in history
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Source: HistoryNet.com
1486: Henry VII marries Elizabeth of York.
1701: Frederick III, the elector of Brandenburg, becomes king of Prussia.
1778: Captain James Cook discovers the Hawaiian Islands, naming them the "Sandwich Islands" after the First Lord of the Admiralty, Lord Sandwich.
1797: Start of first mail service from Montréal to New York, Niagara and Detroit.
1836: Jim Bowie arrives at the Alamo to assist its Texas defenders.
1902: The Isthmus Canal Commission in Washington shifts its support from Nicaragua to Panama as a favoured canal site.
1904: Sir Wilfrid Laurier reportedly remarks to the Canadian Club of Ottawa that "The twentieth century belongs to Canada."
1907: John J. McLaughlin awarded a trademark for his beverage, "Canada Dry Pale Ginger Ale."
1910: Aviator Eugene Ely performs his first successful take off and landing from a ship in San Francisco.
1948: Gandhi breaks a 121-hour fast after halting Muslim-Hindu riots.
1958: Willie O'Ree plays his first game for the Boston Bruins in a 3-0 victory over the Montréal Canadiens. The New Brunswick native is the first Black person to play in the NHL.
1964: Plans are disclosed for the World Trade Center in New York.
1967: Yellowknife becomes capital of the Northwest Territories.
1978: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention isolate the cause of Legionnaire's disease.
1991: Iraq starts firing Scud missiles at Israeli cities.
