On This Day - January 28
January 28
maple leaf Today's Canadian Headline...
1980 TAYLOR PULLS OFF THE CANADIAN CAPER

Teheran Iran - Kenneth Taylor 1934- Canada's Ambassador to Iran engineers the escape of 6 US diplomats, housed with Canadian Embassy staff since Nov. 22, 1979, when the US Embassy was overrun during the Iranian revolution, and 66 hostages taken. The Americans leave with Canadian passports; Taylor himself leaves a few hours later.
1885

Also On This Day...

Khartoum Sudan - Frederick Charles Denison 1846-1896 reaches Khartoum with his Canadian Nile Voyageurs too late to rescue General Charles Gordon, who had been killed; 16 Canadians lost their lives in this, Canada's first overseas military expedition.
1822

And in Today's Canadian Birthdays...

Alexander Mackenzie 1822-1892
stone mason, statesman, born on this day at Dunkeld, Perthshire, Scotland in 1822, son of Alexander Mackenzie and Mary Fleming; died in Toronto April 17, 1892. Mackenzie left school at age 14 to become a stonemason; emigrated to Canada in 1842; became MP for Lambton and later Canada's second Prime Minister (1873-78), the first Liberal to hold the office.

Also Paul Henderson 1943-
hockey player, was born on this day. Henderson played junior with the Hamilton Red Wings, then moved to the Detroit Red Wings, before being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs (1968-74). Henderson retired in 1981 after stints with the WHA Toronto Toros/Birmingham Bulls and the NHL Atlanta Flames. He scored the winning goal in the Canada/Soviet Union Summit Series on Sept 28, 1972, with 34 seconds remaining.

Also George Chaffey
engineer, was born on this day in 1848 at Brockville Ontario. Chaffey moved to California as a young man, invented a cement pipe water system, and gave the name of Ontario to a California community.

Also Robert McClure 1807-1873
Royal Navy officer, Arctic explorer, was born on this day in 1807 at Wexford Ireland; died Oct 17, 1873 in London, England. A veteran of the Franklin search expedition of 1848, McClure completed the first crossing of the Northwest Passage in 1850-54, by navigating an Arctic waterway linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
In Other Events...
1988 Ottawa Ontario - Supreme Court of Canada rules 5-2 that Canada's anti-abortion law violates pregnant women's right to 'security of the person' under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
1983 Winnipeg Manitoba - Progressive Conservative delegates vote 66.9% against a leadership review, but Joe Clark says the mandate is not clear enough, calls leadership convention. He will lose to Brian Mulroney.
1977 Montreal Quebec - Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau declares he will quit politics if Quebec votes for separation in a referendum.
1976 Saskatchewan - Saskatchewan authorizes provincial takeover of potash mines.
1965 Ottawa Ontario - Alan Beddoe 1938- sees Parliament pass an Act adopting his Maple Leaf design for the new National Flag of Canada; over 2,000 designs were submitted.
1918 Guelph Ontario - Dr. John McCrae dies; author of the World War I poem, In Flanders Fields.
1916 Winnipeg Manitoba - Manitoba Legislature passes the Temperance Act; allows use of liquor at home but prohibits public bars.
1914 Regina Saskatchewan - Nellie Letitia McClung 1873-1951 her Political Equality League stages mock Parliament in the Walker Theatre; actors debate whether to give equality to men.
1853 Lennoxville Quebec - Charter granted to the University of Bishop's College in Lennoxville.
1850 Brockville Ontario - Founding of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville.
1693 New York USA - Nicholas d'Ailleboust de Manthet 1663-1709 attacks Mohawk villages in New York with Caughnawaga Indians; takes 300 Iroquois prisoners; under Frontenac's orders.

 
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