Today in History for Oct. 9: On this date: In 1668, Canada's first institution of higher education, The Quebec Seminary, later called Laval University, was founded by Bishop Francois de Laval. In 1811, Sir Isaac Brock became president and administrator of the government of Upper Canada.
In 1820, a proclamation rejoining Cape Breton to Nova Scotia was issued. Cape Breton became part of the colony of Nova Scotia in 1763 but it remained largely undeveloped until 1784, when it became a separate colony for Loyalist refugees. Successive waves of Scottish immigrants and the return of Acadians were followed by the reuniting of the two colonies.
In 1845, the co-founder of the Oxford Movement in England, churchman John Henry Newman, made his celebrated conversion from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism. From 1845-1862, nearly 250 other English clergy followed Newman into the Roman Catholic faith. In 1867, Russia formally handed over Alaska to the United States.
In 1874, the Northwest Mounted Police arrived at Fort Whoop-Up in the Cypress Hills area straddling southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, bringing law and order to Canada's new western territories. In 1875, the Universal Postal Union was founded at Berne, Switzerland. In 1877, the first steam locomotive on the Prairies, the "Countess of Dufferin," arrived in Winnipeg by barge down the Red River.
In 1890, flamboyant evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson was born in Ingersoll, Ont. Raised by strict parents, the former Aimee Kennedy was mar.