On This Day ... in 1866 & Others
A train carrying ammunition between Quebec and Montreal caught fire near Danville. The truck with the fire was quickly disconnected, but troops and railway staff were in a quandary as to how to deal with it. Seeing the indecision, Private O'Hea of the Rifle Brigade ran to the wagon, opened it and set about fighting the fire. Others then helped him, and the fire was extinguished safely.
Most unusually, O'Hea received the Victoria Cross for heroism in a non-combat situation -the only VC won on Canadian Soil.
1898: China leased Hong Kong's new territories to Great Britain for 99 years
1940: King Haakon of Norway and the Prime Minister order loyal Norwegians to cease fighting
The heavy cruiser USS Vincennes and destroyers USS Truxtun & Simpson arrived at Casablanca. The Bank of France's gold reserves, some 200 tons had been brought to Casablanca by a French auxiliary cruiser for onward shipment to the US.
1942: The Japanese declared that the Philippine Islands had been secured