May 5: Winnipeg sinks; "Father of Superfluidity"; Sally Ann Citadel opens; Garson dies.

May 5, 1977 - Stuart Garson, Manitoba's Premier from '43 to '48, dies.

May 5, 1826 - During the Red River flood of 1826, an ice jam breaks and the river sweeps away 47 houses, killing 5 colonists.

May 5 - 6, 1950 - Overnight, he Red River breaks through Winnipeg's dike system in eigh places. Within days, 40% of the city is under water and 40,000 residents flee their homes. It was the greatest mass-evacuation in Canadian history.

For great resources on the 1950 flood. Also see Tribune photos and the CBC radio archives' roundup of a half-dozen reports from correspondents covering the flood that day.

May 5, 1908 - Dr. John F. (Jack) Allen is born in Winnipeg.

Allen studied physics at the University of Manitoba, where his father was the first physics professor. He won a scholarship for his graduate studies at the University of Toronto and from there went on to Cambridge.

Allen had a long and distinguished career in science, most notably co-discoverering superfluidity. He died in the U.K. in April 2001.

May 5 1890 - The Salvation Army occupy their new Winnipeg Citadel at King and Rupert.