This Day in History

1616: The Catholic Church formally bans Nicolaus Copernicus’ book De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, which famously argued that the Earth revolves around the Sun.
1824: The First Anglo-Burmese War officially begins as Great Britain declares war on Burma (Myanmar), starting the longest and most expensive war in British Indian history.
1836: Samuel Colt opens the first factory to mass-produce his patented revolving-cylinder pistol in New Jersey, changing the landscape of global weaponry.
1931: The Gandhi-Irwin Pact is signed in India, leading to the release of political prisoners and allowing Salt Satyagraha participants to gather salt for personal use.
1953: Joseph Stalin, the long-serving leader of the Soviet Union, dies at age 74, sparking a massive geopolitical shift in the Cold War era.
1970: The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) officially enters into force after being ratified by 43 nations, aiming to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.

🇨🇦 Canadian Political Brief

Yesterday: PM Mark Carney, speaking from Australia, criticized US-Israeli strikes on Iran as "inconsistent with international law" while noting Canada was not consulted in advance.
Today: Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand is expected to face intense pressure in Ottawa to clarify Canada’s military stance as the Middle East conflict escalates.

Yesterday: Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced "Operation Epic Fury" has achieved "complete control" of Iranian airspace just four days into the joint US-Israeli campaign.

Yesterday's Significance: March 4, 2026, will likely be remembered as the day the post-WWII multilateral order buckled, as major powers bypassed the UN to launch a full-scale war against Iran.

"The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic."
— Attributed to Joseph Stalin (who died on this day in 1953)