American rock musician Jimi Hendrix was charged with drug possession in Canada in May 1969. Customs agents at Toronto International Airport detained Hendrix (pictured) after finding a small amount of heroin and hashish in his luggage. Released on $10,000 bail, he performed at Maple Leaf Gardens later that night, joking with the crowd. In December he stood trial for two counts of illegal possession of narcotics, carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Judge Joseph Kelly presided. Defense attorney John O'Driscoll raised doubts about whether the narcotics belonged to Hendrix, who had no drug paraphernalia in his luggage or needle tracks on his arms, and whether he even knew they were in his luggage. He was acquitted after a three-day trial. Both of Hendrix's bandmates in the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding, later said that they had been warned about a planned drug bust the day before flying to Toronto and that they believed the drugs had been planted in his bag. Hendrix was the world's highest-paid performer when he was arrested, but this was his last tour, and he died the following year.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_drug_charges_and_trial_of_Jimi_Hendrix
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1545:
The Council of Trent, an ecumenical council convoked by Pope Paul III in response to the growth of Protestantism, opened in Trent, Bishopric of Trent (now in modern Italy). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Trent
1769:
Dartmouth College in present-day Hanover, New Hampshire, US, was established by a Royal Charter and became the last university founded in the Thirteen Colonies before the American Revolution. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dartmouth_College
1960:
With Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie out of the country, four conspirators staged a coup attempt and installed Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen as the new Emperor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_Ethiopian_coup_attempt
1981:
Polish Prime Minister Wojciech Jaruzelski declared martial law, suspended Solidarity and imprisoned many union leaders. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wojciech_Jaruzelski
2001:
The Parliament of India was attacked by five gunmen, resulting in 12 deaths, including those of the perpetrators. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Indian_Parliament_attack
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
anting: (ornithology) The practice of some birds of rubbing live ants or occasionally other items into the feathers, possibly as a means of controlling parasites. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/anting
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
You, the sought for; I, the seeker; this, the search: And each is the mission of all. For greatness is only the drayhorse that coaxes The built cart out; and where we go is reason. But genius is an enormous littleness, a trickling Of heart that covers alike the hare and the hunter. --Kenneth Patchen https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kenneth_Patchen