December 3rd, 2008

Today in History

1999:
NASA loses radio contact with the Mars Polar Lander moments before the spacecraft enters the Martian atmosphere.

1970:
October Crisis: In Montreal, Quebec, kidnapped British Trade Commissioner James Cross is released by the Front de Libération du Québec terrorist group after being held hostage for 60 days. Police negotiate his release and in return the Government of Canada grants five terrorists from the FLQ's Chenier Cell their request for safe passage to Cuba.

1925:
George Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F is premiered at Carnegie Hall.

1917:
After nearly 20 years of planning and construction, the Quebec Bridge opens to traffic (the bridge partially collapsed on August 29, 1907 and September 11, 1916).

1854:
Eureka Stockade: More than twenty goldminers at Ballarat, Australia were killed by state troopers in an uprising over mining licences. Claimed by many to be the birth of Australian democracy.