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August
1950 - Tragedy on the Thames
Launch
capsizes at Springbank Park, leaving four dead, three injured
A
summer pleasure cruise on the Thames River turns to tragedy when a 17-foot
launch carrying nine passengers and its pilot overturns above the old
dam at Springbank Park on the afternoon of August 13. Four people drown,
including a 22 year old man who was engaged to be married. His fiancé
survives the tragedy.
Witnesses report the boat was turning around to return to its dock when the accident occurred. The incident prompts a provincial inquiry about the legality of private boat operators offering unregulated tours along the river.
1992 - Marc
Emery leaves London
Activist leaves amid chorus
of bon voyage and good riddance!
There
was nothing bookstore owner and activist Marc Emery couldn't do in his
hometown of London - except change Canada to his liking. Discouraged,
he left the country in July 1992 to live in India with his wife and adopted
children.
Unfortunately for his detractors, the exile didn't last long. Within two years, he had landed back in Vancouver where he set up a lucrative marijuana business and orchestrated a national campaign for the legalization of pot.
Emery, who currently
faces extradition to the United States on charges of drug trafficking,
will be the subject of an upcoming stage play on his life, Citizen Marc.
1919 -
First Aerial Photos of London
WWI Pilot Billy Bishop is at the controls of the historic flight
With
the Great War over, Canada's former battle heroes have to find a way to
adjust to the challenges of civilian life - the list includes the country's
famous flying ace Billy Bishop.
The pilot decides to combine his love of flying with the booming demand for aerial photography and helps to produce a number of postcards of Canadian cities by air.
This photo, showing south London, illustrates the growth of the city's newest subdivision. Residential streets are already surrounding farm houses while Tecumseh Public School had been built five years earlier to serve the growing school-age population. South Collegiate would go up to the west a decade later.