Today in history

NBC radio program since 1937, made its debut as a TV soap opera on CBS. The final episode aired Sept. 18, 2009. The Guinness Book of World Records cited it as the longest-running television drama.

In 1958, Alaska became the 49th American state.

In 1971, three Soviet cosmonauts, returning from a 24-day mission in the orbiting space station “Salyut,” were killed by a sudden loss of cabin pressure.

In 1973, Conservative MP -- and future prime minister -- Joe Clark married PC Party researcher Maureen Mcteer in Ottawa.

In 1977, Czechoslovakia announced a blanket amnesty for more than 75,000 people who fled the country after Sovietled forces put down a revolt in 1968.

In 1981, Canadian postal workers began a 42-day strike.

In 1987, the Bank of Canada stopped issuing $1 bills. They were replaced with $1 coins that came to be known as loonies. The $2 coin, the toonie, was introduced a few years later.

In 1992, planes loaded with food and medicine arrived at the airport in Sarajevo as part of an international relief effort to aid Bosnia.

In 1998, Nova Scotia prosecutors withdrew criminal charges against two Westray mine managers stemming from the fatal 1992 explosion at the mine.

In 2000, Canada launched a DNA data bank to help police solve crimes.

In 2002, Brazil defeated Germany to win soccer's World Cup.

In 2004, after nearly seven years of travel, the international “Cassini” spacecraft entered Saturn's orbit.

In 2007, BCE Inc., Canada's largest telecom company, was sold to an investment group led by the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board in the biggest corporate takeover in Canadian history, a cash and debt deal worth nearly $52 billion. The deal was challenged by bondholders, who fought it all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada. The top court approved it on June 20, 2008.

In 2009, U.S. combat forces formally pulled back from Iraqi cities.

In 2009, a Yemeni airliner with 153 people on board, including one Canadian, crashed into the Ocean en route to Comoros. A 14-year-old girl was the sole survivor.

IIN 2010, Quebec Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Canada's highest-ranking Catholic priest, was promoted to chief of the Vatican's powerful Congregations for Bishops, which vets bishop appointments around the world. He succeeded 76-yearold Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, who retired after nearly a decade in the post.

In 2011, Prince William and his wife Kate arrived in Ottawa as the newlyweds began their first official overseas tour since marrying in April. Their nine-day Canadian tour also saw them stop in the Quebec, P.E.I., the Northwest Territories and Alberta. Nearly 1,400 journalists were accredited to cover the visit.

In 2011, Labrador's Innu Nation voted in favour of a land and hydro deal crucial to a multi-billion-dollar Lower Churchill hydroelectric project.