1857

Today in History 12/31 (Ottawa Named Capital)

Houses of Parliament in Ottawa, Ontario, pre-1940 (© The Print Collector/Getty Images)(1857) Britain’s Queen Victoria makes Ottawa the capital of Canada
Queen Victoria follows the advice of her advisors and selects a lumber town, called Bytown, to be Canada’s capital. She chooses the outpost that will become Ottawa because its backcountry location will make it easier to defend against an American invasion and because it stands midway between Toronto and Quebec.
The History of Ottawa, capital of Canada, was shaped by events such as the construction of the Rideau Canal, the lumber industry, the choice of Ottawa as the location of Canada’s capital, as well as American and European influences and interactions. By 1914, Ottawa’s population had surpassed 100,000 and today it is the capital of a G7 country whose metropolitan population exceeds one million.
A view of Ottawa, some of Hull and of the Ottawa River circa 1859, including views of the Chaudière Falls and of Parliament Hill (formerly Barrack Hill) prior to the construction of the Parliament Buildings. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Lithograph, hand-coloured, some discolouration, water mark at top left. Crack in paper, upper centre
View of Parliament Hill and Chaudière Falls, Ottawa, ca. 1859. The hill is the second high landmass jutting into the Ottawa River on the right. It still contains barracks here, its last year with them, for construction of the Parliament Builds is about to begin. The Union Bridge is in the foreground, but its main span has been replaced, after many years of ferry service only, with a steel suspension bridge.
wiki/History_of_Ottawa
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(1857) Britain’s Queen Victoria makes Ottawa the capital of Canada.
Also on this day,

1879 | Thomas Edison lights a street with his incandescent bulbs
On New Year’s Eve, American inventor Thomas Edison demonstrates his incandescent light bulbs in Menlo Park, New Jersey, by lighting a street in front of about 3,000 spectators. Edison isn’t the first to design such a light bulb, though his is the first to burn steadily for hours.
1946 | US President Truman officially ends hostilities in World War II
Truman signs the Presidential Proclamation 2714 to officially cease all hostilities in World War II, more than a year after combat ended in Europe and the Pacific. But the state of war against Germany and Japan will continue until 1951 so that Allies can keep troops in these countries.
1985 | Singer Ricky Nelson dies in plane crash
Traveling to Dallas, Texas, to perform in New Year’s Eve concert, the 45-year-old singer, actor, ex-teen idol, and son of Ozzie and Harriet, is on a chartered DC-3 when the cockpit fills with smoke. All seven passengers will die in the emergency landing, though the pilots will survive.

Today in History 12/31/17

President Harry S. Truman in 1946 (© Toronto Star Archives/Toronto Star via Getty Images)(1946) US President Truman officially ends hostilities in World War II
Truman signs the Presidential Proclamation 2714 to officially cease all hostilities in World War II, more than a year after combat ended in Europe and the Pacific. But the state of war against Germany and Japan will continue until 1951 so that Allies can keep troops in these countries.

Presidential Proclamation 2714 was signed by President Harry S. Truman on December 31, 1946, to officially declare the cessation of all hostilities in World War II. Even though the actual combat of the war ended May 8, 1945, in Europe and September 2, 1945, in the Pacific, the state of war was not lifted off of Japan and Germany in order to give a reason for the necessity of occupation troops in these countries. Once the War Crimes Trials were over, the hostilities were seen as over. The signing of Proclamation 2714 is the reason why the U.S. recognizes its World War II veterans as anyone who has served between the dates of December 7, 1941, and December 31, 1946.

The declarations of war against Japan and Germany in 1941 were officially lifted as follows:

  • September 8, 1951: Forty-nine nations sign the Japanese Peace Treaty in San Francisco, officially ending World War II and re-establishing Japanese sovereignty.

  • October 19, 1951: President Truman signs an act formally ending World War II, after having Congress abolish the state of war with Germany (Pub.L. 82–181).


    • wiki/Proclamation_2714
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    Today in History 10/24 (United Nations)

    President Harry S. Truman and the American delegation look on as Sen. Tom Connally signs the United Nations Charter in San Francisco on June 26, 1945 (© AP)(1945) United Nations begins operating
    The United Nations charter, written earlier in the year at a conference in San Francisco, takes effect. The first meetings of the General Assembly and Security Council will take place the following January in London. The New York headquarters will be completed in 1952.
    The United Nations is an intergovernmental organization tasked to promote international co-operation and to create and maintain international order. A replacement for the ineffective League of Nations, the organization was established on 24 October 1945 after World War II with the aim of preventing another such conflict. At its founding, the UN had 51 member states; there are now 193. The headquarters of the UN is in Manhattan, New York City, and is subject to extraterritoriality. Further main offices are situated in Geneva, Nairobi, and Vienna. The organization is financed by assessed and voluntary contributions from its member states. Its objectives include maintaining international peace and security, promoting human rights, fostering social and economic development, protecting the environment, and providing humanitarian aid in cases of famine, natural disaster, and armed conflict. The UN is the largest, most familiar, most internationally represented and most powerful intergovernmental organization in the world.
    Website: www.un.org
    Founded: Oct 24, 1945 · Lake Success, NY
    Headquarters: New York, NY
    Founders: Commonwealth of the Philippines · Haiti · Dominican Republic · Panama · Guatemala · Cuba · Norway · Argentina · United States · El Salvador · Netherlands · Denmark · Belgium · Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic · Nicaragua
    Subsidiaries: World Health Organization · International Monetary Fund · Food and Agriculture Organization · UNICEF · United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees · World Intellectual Property Organization · International Telecommunication Union · World Tourism Organization · United Nations University · United Nations Population Fund · United Nations Human Settlements Programme

    A map of United Nations member states at the end of 1945. Light blue are member states, Dark blue are colonies of member states, grey are non-member states
    The UN in 1945: Founding members in light blue, protectorates and territories of the founding members in dark blue
    wiki/United_Nations
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    (1945) United Nations begins operating.
    Also on this day,

    1260 | Chartres Cathedral consecrated as French Gothic architecture soars heavenward
    Workers broke ground 115 years before, and now the Chartres Cathedral is finally consecrated. The Gothic church will stand through the ages as a magnificent achievement, despite lightning damage, having its roof melted down for bullets, and being slated for destruction by Allied forces in WWII.
    1857 | The world’s most popular sport kicks off in Sheffield as 1st football team founded
    Sheffield is a goliath of steel manufacturing in South Yorkshire, England, and now claims the world’s first football team, as Nathaniel Creswick and William Prest meet to form the Sheffield Football Club. The sport will kick around Britain awhile before scoring worldwide popularity.
    1962 | James Brown at Apollo as The godfather of Soul captures lightning in a bottle
    His studio cuts can be mind-blowing, but James Brown and his fans know there’s nothing like seeing the R&B dynamo live, fronting his Famous Flames. When a recording of tonight’s session at the Apollo Theater in Harlem is released as an album, it will rocket up the charts.

    Today in History 10/24/17

    The ratification of the Treaty of Münster, part of the Peace of Westphalia, to end the 30 Years War in 1648 (© Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)(1648) A balance of power arrives to calm a war-torn Europe
    Stretching for three brutal decades and encompassing almost the entirety of Europe, what began as a struggle between Catholics and Protestants metastasized into an all-out territorial power grab, and now the conflict finally finds resolution as the Peace of Westphalia treaties are signed.
    The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts, as well as the deadliest European religious war, in history. It took place in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648 and resulted in eight million casualties.
    Start date: May 23, 1618
    End date: May 15, 1648
    Map Thirty Years War
    Map of the Thirty Years' War

    wiki/Thirty_Years'_War
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