Today in history

which were supposed to lead to economic self-sufficiency. By the early 1950s, however, the economy had deteriorated and his support weakened.

In 1957, the United States conducted its first contained underground nuclear test, code-named “Rainier,” in the Nevada desert.

In 1968, physicist Chester Carlson, inventor of the Xerox copying process, died. He was 62.

In 1978, the Progressive Conservatives, led by John Buchanan, swept to victory in the Nova Scotia provincial election. The win was the first of four straight victories for Buchanan.

In 1980, Marathon of Hope runner Terry Fox, 22, was made the youngest companion of the Order of Canada.

In 1984, Britain and China issued a joint declaration securing the transfer of Hong Kong from British to Chinese rule by 1997.

In 1985, the Canadian government ordered the seizure of a million cans of tainted tuna. Grocery store chains began removing cans of tuna from shelves amid mounting consumer fears that some cans contained rancid and decomposing fish. Fisheries Minister John Fraser, who had earlier refused to recall the product, resigned on Sept. 23.

In 1985, Mexico City, the world's most populous capital, was hit by a devastating earthquake. It was followed by another major quake the next day. Many buildings, including schools, hospitals and highrises, were destroyed and at least 9,500 people were killed. Canada immediately set aside $1 million in emergency aid to help victims of the quakes.

In 1986, American officials announced that an experimental drug had prolonged the lives of some people with AIDS. The drug, azidothymidine or AZT, had first been synthesized in the 1960s, when it was hoped to be used to fight cancer.

In 1988, the American Senate ratified the Canadau.s. Free Trade Agreement by a vote of 83-to-9. The vote marked the last step in the American legislative approval process. The agreement, aimed at eliminating trade barriers, began taking effect the following January.

In 1989, the U.S. Library of Congress announced the first 25 of 75 films named to the new national film registry. The registry was established to get high-quality copies of films to make sure they would be preserved. The first group included “Gone With The Wind,” “The Maltese Falcon” and “Citizen Kane.”

In 2000, Reform party leader Stockwell Day was sworn in as leader of the Official Opposition, and Joe Clark, the former Conservative prime minister, returned to the House of Commons after seven years.

In 2003, in a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court of Canada said that the Metis are a distinct aboriginal group with a constitutional right to hunt for food.

In 2005, Canada and Denmark agreed on a process to resolve their territorial dispute over Hans Island, an uninhabited Arctic rock between Ellesmere Island and Greenland.

In 2005, North Korea agreed to drop its nuclear weapons development program and rejoin international arms treaties.

In 2005, Paul Coffin, the first person to be criminally convicted in the federal sponsorship scandal, was sentenced to two years less a day, to be served in the community by speaking out publicly about business ethics and the story of his downfall.

In 2005, former Tyco International Ltd. boss Dennis Kozlowski and former Tyco finance chief Mark Swartz were each sentenced to jail terms of up to 25 years for looting the company coffers. They were also ordered to pay a combined $240 million in fines and restitution.

In 2007, Ontario's Superior Court struck down the province's controversial adoption information disclosure law as unconstitutional only two days after it went into effect.

In 2007, Canada formalized a landmark $1.9-billion compensation deal for an estimated 80,000 former students of 130 residential schools run by churches and funded by the federal government from the 1870s until the mid-1970s, for the sexual, physical and psychological abuse they endured.

In 2008, baseball's new instant replay system produced its first reversal when Tampa Bay's Carlos Pena had a two-run double changed to a three-run homer during the fourth inning of a game against Minnesota.

In 2009, Wally Buono became the winningest coach in CFL history, collecting his 232nd career win to surpass Don Matthews, as the B.C. Lions defeated the Toronto Argonauts 23-17.

In 2010, retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the U.S government's point man on the BP disaster, announced that the company's well was “effectively dead” and posed no further threat to the Gulf of Mexico. Following the April 20 explosion that sunk a drilling rig and killed 11 workers, the well spewed an estimated 780 millon litres of oil into the Gulf, making it the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

In 2015, Jackie Collins, the bestselling author of dozens of novels including “Hollywood Wives” that dramatized the lifestyles of the rich and the treacherous, died of breast cancer. She was 77.