TODAY IN HISTORY: War rationing begins

ON THIS DATE IN 1769, Prince Edward Island, then called Island of St. Jean, was made a separate colony from Nova Scotia. In 1900, Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, was born.

In 1914, Canada automatically entered the First World War when Britain declared war on Germany after the invasion of Belgium.

In 1914, British Columbia acquired its own navy for a few days when Premier Richard McBride paid $1.5 million to a Seattle shipyard for two submarines.

In 1922, Bell Telephone suspended service for one minute during Alexander Graham Bell's funeral in Baddeck, N.S.

In 1936, Toronto runner Phil Edwards is the first Canadian to win five Olympic medals.

In 1942, tea and coffee war rationing went into effect in Canada.

In 1944, Calgary-born Royal Air Force Squadron-Leader Ian Bazalgette won a posthumous Victoria Cross.

In 1945, Byron Nelson won the last of his record 11 consecutive victories on the PGA Tour, taking the Canadian Open in Toronto.

In 1952, fire broke out in the library of Parliament. Thousands of books in the library, one of Canada's most valuable collections, were damaged

In 1952, a uranium rush began in Saskatchewan when Uranium City was opened to prospectors.

In 1960, the Commons approved the Canadian Bill of Rights. It guaranteed freedom of speech, religion and the press

In 1976, Canadian-born media baron Lord Thomson of Fleet died at age 82.

In 1983, in the Fowl Ball incident, New York Yankee outfielder Dave Winfield was charged by Toronto police after killing a seagull with a thrown baseball. A charge of unnecessary cruelty to an animal was later dropped.

In 1984, Alex Baumann of Sudbury, Ont., won his second swimming gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics.

In 1986, Canada became one of six Commonwealth countries to adopt economic measures against South Africa.

In 1998, the Nisga'a First Nation signed a historic treaty with the federal and B.C. governments.

In 2010, 20 first-degree murder charges against serial killer Robert Pickton were formally stayed.

In 2011, Montreal Alouettes quarterback Anthony Calvillo surpassed Damon Allen's completions record of 5,158.

In 2012, Rosannagh MacLennan won Canada's only gold medal at the Summer Olympics in London, in women's trampoline.

In 2014, a massive tailings pond breach at Imperial Metals' Mount Polley Mine in central B.C. sent 10 million cubic metres of water and 4.5 million cubic metres of toxic silt into Polley Lake and Quesnel Lake.