In 1867, the Dominion of Canada is formed, comprising the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario & Quebec, with John A. Macdonald serving as the first Prime Minister.
In 1903 the Tour de France Bicycle Race is flagged off for the first time. The now annual multi-leg bike race lasted for 20 days with a course that stretched about 1,500 miles. The race was first created by the sports daily, L’Auto , as a way to boost its circulation. The first Tour de France was win by Italian-French racer, Maurice Garin.
In 1908, SOS is adopted as the International Distress Signal. The 2nd International Radiotelegraphic Convention, which was signed in December 1906, made the Morse code distress signal (· · · – – – · · ·), the standard international maritime distress signal. Even though it was replaced by the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System in 1999, SOS is universally seen as a distress call and is often mistakenly thought to be an abbreviation of Save Our Souls or Save Our Ship.
In 1967 the Beatles’ album “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” goes #1 in the United States, where it would stay for 15 weeks
In 1979, the Walkman makes its appearance in stores for the first time. The portable audio cassette player was made by Sony and went on sale in Japan.
In 1991 the Warsaw Pact, a defence treaty between 8 communist countries, was formally disbanded in Prague The pact was founded in 1955, during the height of the Cold War, as a way to counterbalance the power of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Western Europe.
At midnight on July 1, 1997, Hong Kong reverts back to Chinese rule in a ceremony attended by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Prince Charles of Wales, Chinese President Jiang Zemin, and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
