History was made on this date in 1961 with the legendary Tommy Douglas’s election as the first-ever leader of the freshly named New Democratic Party (NDP).The ground-breaking former Premier of Saskatchewan, who, like John Diefenbaker and Lester B. Pearson, became a hero in the foundation of Canada’s system of Medicare, would serve as the NDP’s national leader for a decade. Though he retired from the leadership in 1971, Tommy remained a respected voice in the House of Commons until he chose not to run in 1979. Upon his death in 1986, partisans of all stripes united to praise him and recognize his contributions to Canada.Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist. He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy. A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.