TODAY IN HISTORY: Ben Johnson wins Olympic gold

In 787, the Second Nicene Council opened under Pope Hadrian I. Numbered by some as the seventh of the church's 21 ecumenical councils, Nicea II condemned iconoclasm, the belief that veneration of Christian images and relics is idolatry.

In 1621, the first news-sheet in English was printed in England. It had no name, but is considered the beginning of English journalism.

In 1780, Benedict Arnold escaped one day after his treason was disclosed. Arnold, a commander of the American fort West Point, had planned to surrender the fort to the British. He became a colonel in the British army and later lived in Saint John, N.B., for four years. He then returned to England, where he died in 1801.

In 1788, Canada made its first shipment of furs to China.

In 1869, the Black Friday panic hit Wall Street after an attempt by financiers Jay Gould and James Fisk to corner the gold market. Gold prices tumbled when the U.S. Treasury announced it would sell $4 million in gold.

In 1872, the Chess Federation of Canada, the highest-ranking chess organization in the country, was founded in Hamilton.

In 1889, in The Netherlands, the “Declaration of Utrecht” was signed and became the doctrinal basis of the Old Catholic Church. Old Catholics reject clerical celibacy, papal authority and the Council of Trent decisions. Today, Old Catholics are active in the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland.

In 1904, Toronto's George Lyon won the golf title at the St. Louis Olympics. The 46-year-old eccentric walked to the award ceremony on his hands.

In 1934, Babe Ruth made his farewell appearance as a regular player with the New York Yankees in a game against the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox won 5-0.

In 1950, a Canadian military mission arrived in Tokyo to become the first Canadian unit dispatched in the Korean conflict.

In 1952, six boxes of gold bullion worth $215,000 were stolen from an unguarded building at the Toronto airport. The gold, awaiting shipment to Montreal, was never found but it was believed to have been smuggled to Hong Kong and China.

In 1957, the Brooklyn Dodgers played their last home game at Ebbets Field, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-0. The Dodgers moved to Los Angeles at the start of the 1958 season.

In 1960, the “USS Enterprise,” the first nuclearpowered aircraft carrier, was launched.

In 1970, Luna 16 returned to the Soviet Union, ending the first unmanned trip to the moon.

In 1971, the British government expelled 90 officials from the Soviet Embassy and refused entry to 15 others. A former member of the KGB, who defected to Britain, implicated the expelled officials in espionage.

In 1975, the U.S. Senate intelligence committee announced the CIA had been opening foreign letters addressed to Americans for 20 years.

In 1976, newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst was sentenced to seven years in prison for her part in a 1974 bank robbery. She was released after 22 months under an executive clemency order from U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

In 1984, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip began a 14-day Canadian tour.

In 1988, Canadian Ben Johnson set a world record in the 100-metre sprint at the Seoul Olympics. Johnson clocked 9.79 seconds and won the much-anticipated showdown against American Carl Lewis. But several days later, he was stripped of his gold medal after testing positive for banned anabolic steroids.