It is #ItalianHeritageMonth and this is the story of Angelina Napolitano, who brought domestic abuse to national awareness
Napolitano was born in Naples, Italy on March 12, 1882 & came to Canada in 1909 with her husband Pietro, settling in Sault Ste. Marie.
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The couple had four children but the marriage was abusive. Pietro often hit and threatened Angelino. In November 1910, he stabbed her nine times in the face, neck, shoulder, chest & arms with a pocket knife. He was charged but received a suspended sentence.
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In the winter of 1910-11, Pietro started to pressure Angelina to earn money through prostitution.
On April 16, 1911, while she was six months pregnant, Pietro told her to go out and prostitute herself or he would kill her.
He said she had until he woke up to earn money.
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As he slept, she took an axe and hit him four times in the head, killing him. She then went to her neighbour and said "I just killed a pig"
She waited for the police to arrive as she held her youngest child.
She was put on trial on May 9, 1911. The trial lasted 3 hours.
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Her lawyer was the first to use the "battered woman defense" but the judge said it was inadmissible evidence.
The jury returned a guilty verdict & asked for clemency. Instead, the judge sentenced her to death. Her execution date was set for Aug. 9.
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Her execution date was one month after the due date for her baby.
The media coverage of her story was typically racist, calling her a hot-blooded foreigner.
The public saw her differently, and someone who had suffered in her marriage. Public outcry hit a fever pitch.
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Sir Allen Aylesworth, the federal Minister of Justice received many letters and petitions asking for clemency.
On July 14, 1911, her sentence was commuted. She served 11 years in Kingston & upon her parole, lived a quiet life until she died on Sept. 4, 1932.
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Murray Sinclair was a Senator, judge and university chancellor.
But his greatest contribution was as chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the early-2010s.
This is the story of a lifelong champion of Indigenous rights.
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Murray Sinclair was born on Jan. 24, 1951 in Selkirk, Manitoba. Raised on the St. Peter's Reserve, he was his class valedictorian and Athlete of the Year at his high school in 1968.
He attended the University of Manitoba but left to care for his grandparents.
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In 1971, while working at the Selkirk Friendship Centre, he was elected vice president of the Manitoba Metis Federation. He was also the executive assistant to MLA Howard Pawley.
In 1976, Sinclair enrolled at the University of Winnipeg. He then attended law school.
Olga Kotelko may be the greatest athlete Canada has ever produced.
She held 30 world records and won over 750 gold medals. And she did it all from her 70s to 90s.
This is the story of this legendary athlete!
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Olga Kotelko was born on March 2, 1919 in Smuts, Saskatchewan. When she was 22, she graduated from Saskatoon Normal School and taught at a one-room school near Vonda, Saskatchewan.
After her marriage broke up, she raised her two children.
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After she retired in 1984, she took up playing softball. At the age of 70, she made a double play. After she gave up her position to a 55-year-old, she started in track and field. She chose that because she had developed her running and throwing skills in softball.
On June 23, 1611, Henry Hudson, his son and six others were put into a boat in Hudson Bay by mutineers and cast adrift. From that point, they disappeared from history.
So what happened to Henry Hudson?
Let's explore the mystery
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Henry Hudson was a celebrated explorer during the early-1600s.
In 1607 and 1608, he made two attempts to find the Northeast Passage. His explorations of North America laid the foundation for Dutch colonization of the present-day New York region.
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In 1610, he began a new expedition to find the Northwest Passage. He became the first European to see Hudson Strait and Hudson Bay.
Entering Hudson Bay, he believed he had found the passage to the Pacific. He soon realized this was wrong but by then winter had set in.
On June 22, 1971, Joni Mitchell's magnum opus album, Blue, was released.
It is not only hailed as her best album, but one of the greatest albums ever made.
The album is celebrated to this day by critics and fans alike.
This is the story of Joni Mitchell's fourth album.
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The first three albums in Mitchell's career were acclaimed but by 1970 she needed a break from performing.
In the spring of 1970, she set off on vacation in Europe. While in Crete, she wrote some of the songs that appeared on Blue.
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Many of the songs on the album were inspired by personal experience including her relationships with Cary Raditz and Graham Nash. Both My Old Man and River are typically credited as being inspired by her troubled relationship with Nash.
Tommy Prince was one of the most decorated soldiers in Canadian history through two different wars.
But after his war service finished, he was forgotten by the country he had served.
This is the story of Tommy Prince.
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Tommy Prince's ancestors had served in support of the Crown during the 1870 Red River Resistance, and his father Chief William Prince was a member of the Nile Expedition in 1885. Family members also served in the First World War.
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Tommy Prince was born on Oct. 25, 1915. Growing up, Prince was an excellent marksmen. He also developed tracking and stealth skills.
Prince's father taught him to shoot using a target the size of a playing card at 100 metres.
Chief Dan George led an amazing life.
A gifted poet. An activist for his people. A movie star.
Remembered as the first Indigenous person to receive an Academy Award nomination, he was so much more than that.
This is his story.
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Dan George was born Geswanouth Slahoot on the Burrard Reserve on July 24, 1899.
He was a descendant of Chief Wautsauk, who met Capt. George Vancouver when he landed in the area in 1792.
From an early age, he went by the first name Daniel.
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After he was forced into Residential School at the age of five, his last name was changed to George.
At the age of 16, he left Residential School and began working various jobs. These jobs included as a bus driver, longshoreman and construction worker.