80px|Canoe River cairn, erected to the memory of the 17 soldiers who died in the Canoe River train crash

The Canoe River train crash occurred on November 21, 1950, near Valemount in eastern British Columbia, Canada, when a westbound troop train and the eastbound Canadian National Railway (CNR) Continental Limited collided head-on. Twenty-one people were killed: 17 Canadian soldiers being deployed in the Korean War (memorial to them pictured) and the two-man locomotive crew of each train. The post-crash investigation found that the order given to the troop train differed from the intended message. Crucial words were missing, causing the troop train to proceed on its way rather than halt on a siding, causing the collision. A telegraph operator, Alfred John "Jack" Atherton, was charged with manslaughter; the prosecution alleged he was negligent in passing an incomplete message. His family hired his Member of Parliament, John Diefenbaker, as defence counsel. Diefenbaker joined the British Columbia bar in order to take the case, and obtained Atherton's acquittal. (more...)

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Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canoe_River_train_crash

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1386:

Turco-Mongol conqueror Timur captured and sacked the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, forcing King Bagrat V to convert to Islam. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timur%27s_invasions_of_Georgia

1894:

First Sino-Japanese War: The Japanese Second Army killed an estimated 20,000 Chinese servicemen and civilians in the city of Lüshunkou. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Arthur_massacre_%28China%29

1910:

The crews of the Brazilian warships Minas Geraes, São Paulo, Bahia, and Deodoro mutinied in what became known as the Revolt of the Lash . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolt_of_the_Lash

1977:

"God Defend New Zealand" became New Zealand's second national anthem, on equal standing with "God Save the Queen", which had been the traditional one since 1840. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_Defend_New_Zealand

1985:

United States Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard was arrested for espionage after being caught giving Israel classified information on Arab nations. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Pollard

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

inquiline (n): 1. An animal that lives in the nest, burrow, gall, or dwelling place of an animal of another species. 2. An organism that lives within a reservoir of water collected in the hollow of a plant stem or leaf http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/inquiline

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

"Man's inhumanity to man" is not the last word. The truth lies deeper. It is economic slavery, the savage struggle for a crumb, that has converted mankind into wolves and sheep. --Alexander Berkman http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alexander_Berkman