On this day in 1867, the Dominion of Canada came into being. The Fathers of Confederation congratulated themselves on a great job, and then invited their relatives to have a drink with them. These were the Uncles of Confederation. There were only four provinces in Canada at that time, Upper Canada, Lower Canada, Middling Canada and Fiddling Canada. That was Nova Scotia, obviously.
On this day in 1862, the U.S. Congress outlawed polygamy. This caused great concern in Utah where Mormon men were accustomed to having many wives. Take the LDS founder Joseph Smith, for example. He had 33 wives. Back in 1843, having 33 wives was called ‘polygamy’. These days we call it “one really noisy house”.
On this day in 1898, during the Spanish-American War, Teddy Roosevelt and his Roughriders charged up San Juan Hill. After the war, his Roughriders settled in Regina, Saskatchewan where they took up football.
On this day in 1969, Charles Phillip Arthur George became the Prince of Wales. Having four names like this means that you need a footman to hold the pen while you write your signature. The Prince of Wales is a very prestigious position, usually meaning that you will someday become the King of England. Unfortunately for Prince Charles Phillip Arthur George, known to his close mates as C-PAG, this likely won’t work out and he may have to live out his days opening bridges and growing organic turnips. It appears that his son, Prince William, will likely be the next king of England, or as some like to call it “Diana’s Revenge”
If your birthday is on July 1st, you share it with, well, what a coincidence, Lady Diana Spencer, the mother of Prince William, who was born on this day in 1961. She became one of those rare icons who are remembered by people because they can recite where they were and what they were doing when they heard they’d died. Elvis is another one and so is John. F. Kennedy. On the flip side of the coin, absolutely nobody remembers where they were and what they were doing when they heard that Sid Vicious had died.
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