I Used to Know That_ Stuff You Forgot From School - Caroline Taggart [35]
Pierre Elliott Trudeau (1968-79; 1980-84): not only a swinging playboy, but also a no-nonsense gunslinger. When rioters hurled objects at him during a 1968 ceremony, he refused to withdraw to safety. When separatist terrorists took hostages in Quebec, he sent in the army. He stuck it to the Alberta oil barons during the energy crisis of the 1970s. He made mincemeat of his main opponent during the 1980 referendum on Quebec sovereignty. A Liberal, he brought in official bilingualism, the metric system, and—in his proudest moment—repatriated the Constitution, to which he added the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Fidel Castro, his good friend, was among the pallbearers at his funeral.
Joe Clark (1979-80): dismissed as “Joe Who?” during his early years on the national stage, this Progressive Conservative politician astounded the pundits when he was elected Canada’s youngest-ever prime minister at age 39.
John Turner (1984): dashing, dapper, and athletic, he inherited the prime minister’s job after Pierre Trudeau retired. The Liberal is remembered for his tooth-and-nails crusade against the proposed free-trade deal with the United States.
Brian Mulroney (1984-93): won the largest majority government in Canadian history in 1994. The Progressive Conservative soon came under fire for his cozy friendship with U.S. president Bush, a revolving door of scandals, and ill-advised tinkering with the Constitution. Nevertheless, his administration hammered out the 1988 Free Trade Agreement with the United States and the 1992 North American Free Trade Agreement.
Kim Campbell (1993): Canada’s first female prime minister, who voters never actually gave a mandate to rule. Instead, she briefly inherited the reigns of power, only to go down to a prompt and decisive defeat.
Jean Chrétien (1993-2003): eighteenth child of a paper-mill worker, he was a seasoned veteran of Liberal cabinets dating back to the 1960s. A brilliant, if rustic, campaigner, his long experience and political instincts won him three consecutive majority governments.
Paul Martin (2003-6): as a Liberal three-time finance minister, he has been credited with getting Canada’s fiscal health into shape. The scion of a wealthy shipping family, he faced the electorate, but once as prime minister won a short-lived minority mandate.
Stephen Harper (2006-present): the current prime minister, he represents a Conservative party that removed the word Progressive from its official name. An influential back-room player whose survival skills brought him to the fore, Harper has consolidated power in the prime minister’s office as rarely seen before.
Notable Kings and Queens of England
Major World Conflicts
Times may change, but the issues that incite wars among people around the world remain the same: Power, territory, religion, and resources are usually at the heart of the matter.
☞ 1066: BATTLE OF HASTINGS
The year 1066 was a busy one. King Edward the Confessor died on January 5, leaving four claimants to the throne. The legitimate heir, Edward’s son Edgar, was a child and no one took much notice of him. Military expediency preferred the successful Saxon general Harold Godwin, but there was also the Norwegian king, Harald Hardrada, who invaded northern England and, on September 25, was defeated by Harold at Stamford Bridge, near York. Three days later an army led by William of Normandy (to whom Harold Godwin may or may not have promised allegiance in a visit to Normandy the previous year) landed at Pevensey in Sussex, some 249 miles (400 km) away. Harold marched to meet him, and the battle now known as Hastings took place on October