Columbus got his sailing papers; the Titantic wished it hadn’t; Cartier comes to Canada; the Olympics was revived; and Air Canada’s pre-cursor, Trans-Canada Airlines, brought this country into the jet age – all in Aprils past:

In 1492, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain granted Christopher Columbus a commission to seek a westward ocean passage to Asia. Columbus considered himself a missionary who would carry Christ across the ocean to people who had never heard the gospel.

In 1506, the foundation stone was laid during a celebration overseen by Pope Julius II to begin construction of the new St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.

In 1513, explorer Juan Ponce de Leon claimed Florida for Spain.

In 1534, French explorer Jacques Cartier left St-Malo on his first voyage to Canada. After reaching Newfoundland in just 20 days, Cartier explored the Strait of Belle Isle, which he hoped was the beginning of a river leading to China. But after exploring the desolate Labrador coast, Cartier wrote in his diary, “I believe that this was the land God allotted to Cain.”

In 1610, English explorer Henry Hudson sailed from London. Two months later, he reached what is now the Hudson Strait in the Canadian Arctic.

In 1664, the governor of New France banned the littering of streets with straw, manure or “anything else.” (Ed – Thank goodness, but what about pandemic masks?)

In 1734, Canada’s first lighthouse – at Louisbourg, NS – began operation.

In 1753, the British Museum was founded in London.

In 1842, the Gesner Museum, Canada’s first public museum, opened in Saint John, NB.

In 1859, the first steamboat began operating on the Red River, carrying freight and passengers between Fort Garry (now Winnipeg) and St. Paul, Minn.

In 1873, 547 people died when the liner “Atlantic” was wrecked on a reef near Mars Rock, outside Halifax harbour.

In 1896, the first modern Olympic Games opened in Athens. The ancient Olympic Games began about 776 BC and were held every four years in the valley of Olympia in Greece until they were abolished in 393 A.D. by the Roman emperor, who considered them pagan. Renewing the Games was first suggested in 1892 by Baron Pierre de Coubertin of France. Canada did not send athletes to the Games until 1900 in Paris.

In 1906, a devastating earthquake measuring an estimated 8.3 on the Richter scale struck San Francisco. The quake and ensuing fires killed an estimated 4,000 people and caused US$500 million in damage.

In 1909, the North Pole was apparently reached by American Robert Peary. He began his sixth attempt to reach the Pole at Ellesmere Island, and was joined later by aide Mathew Henson and four Inuit. They spent nearly 30 hours at the spot scores of explorers had sought to reach. But Peary’s claim to be the first one there is still disputed. Another explorer, Dr. Frederick Cook, said he got there in 1908 but the US Congress rejected his claim.

In 1912, the “Titanic” struck an iceberg south of Newfoundland’s Grand Banks during its maiden voyage from England. The luxury liner sank overnight with the loss of more than 1,500 lives. The wreckage was found on the ocean floor in 1985.

In 1912, Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly across the English Channel. She used a Bleriot monoplane to travel from Dover, England to Hardelot, France.

In 1937, an act of Parliament created Trans-Canada Airlines, now Air Canada.

In 1947, the International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations agency, was established. Its headquarters are in Montreal.

In 1960, Canada entered the jet age when Trans-Canada Air Lines began service between Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal.

In 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space. He orbited Earth once before “Vostok I” re-entered the atmosphere 89 minutes later.

In 1968, London Bridge was sold for one million pounds to American developer Robert McCullough, who moved it to Arizona.

In 1983, the space shuttle “Challenger” roared into orbit on its maiden voyage.

In 1990, Pope John Paul II was greeted by hundreds of thousands of people as he visited Czechoslovakia to help celebrate the nation’s peaceful overthrow of Communism.

In 1992, Euro Disneyland, a $4-billion theme park, opened outside Paris.

In 2001, Chris Hadfield became the first Canadian to walk in space. Hadfield and an American colleague on the space shuttle “Endeavour” crew unfolded and installed an updated model of the Canadian-built robotic arm that would help build and maintain the International Space Station.

In 2003, British Airways and Air France announced they would end their Concorde service because of falling passenger demand. (The last flights flew into London’s Heathrow Airport on Oct. 24.)

In 2003, Air Canada filed for bankruptcy protection.

In 2004, the new $3.6-billion Terminal 1 at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport opened.

In 2008, Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines, squeezed by record high fuel prices and a slowing economy, merged in a stock-swap deal to create, at the time, the world’s biggest carrier.

In 2009, Jamaican troops stormed a hijacked Canadian charter flight at Montego Bay airport, took the lone gunman into custody and safely released six Canadian crew members. All 159 passengers and two other crew members were able to escape less than an hour into the hijacking of CanJet Flight 918, with help of a quick-thinking flight attendant.