Today in history

In 1921, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania were admitted to the League of Nations.

In 1927, Gene Tunney successfully defended his heavyweight boxing title against Jack Dempsey in the famed “long-count” fight in Chicago.

In 1930, Parliament passed the Unemployment Relief Act.

In 1934, an explosion and fire in a coal mine in Wales took 250 lives.

In 1940, Japanese troops entered Indo-china during the Second World War.

In 1949, the Soviet Union detonated its first atomic bomb.

In 1950, Dr. Ralph Bunche became the first black to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

In 1956, Montreal's Sam Etcheverry and Hal Patterson set a CFL record by combining on a 109-yard pass completion against the visiting Hamilton Tiger-cats. The mark was tied in the 1965 Western final by Winnipeg's Ken Ploen and Ken Neilsen and in 1966 by Calgary's Jerry Keeling and Terry Evanshen.

In 1967, in Montreal, “Expo 67” broke the attendance record of 42,973,561 set at the 1958 World's Fair in Brussels.

In 1969, the highest mountain in the Canadian Arctic, on Ellesmere Island, was named after the late Canadian anthropologist Marius Barbeau.

In 1974, the Honduran government declared the whole country a disaster area as a result of destruction caused by hurricane Fifi. An estimated 9,000 people died and $100 million worth of damage was caused to crops, houses and infrastructure.

In 1975, a shot was fired at U.S. President Gerald Ford, the second time in 17 days an attempt was made on his life. The shot was fired by Sara Jane Moore while Ford was visiting San Francisco. On Sept. 5, Lynette (Squeaky) Fromme, a follower of mass-murderer Charles Manson, pointed a loaded gun at the president. Ford wasn't hurt either time and both would-be assassins were later convicted. Moore served 32 years in prison before being paroled on Dec. 31, 2007. Fromme served 34 years and was paroled on Aug. 14, 2009.

In 1980, a full-scale war erupted between Iran and Iraq after months of border skirmishes. The war lasted almost eight years.

In 1980, the Solidarity movement was born following Polish workers winning the right to organize free trade unions. Lech Walesa was elected leader.

In 1981, France put into operation a high speed train known as the “Train a grande vitesse,” running from Paris to Lyon. With new tracks, locomotives and cars, the train set a railway record by travelling at 260 km/h.

In 1987, Canada's first quintuplets since the Dionne quints were born to Kim and Lauren Forgie of Orleans, Ont.

In 1988, the federal government announced a $300 million compensation package and apology for the 22,000 Japanese Canadians interned during the Second World War. In 1942, Japanese Canadians, considered security risks, were moved to camps inland from the B.C. coast and their property was confiscated. In making the compensation announcement, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney said, “No amount of money can right the wrong,” but added, “error is an ingredient of humanity.”

In 1992, the United Nations voted to expel Yugoslavia from the General Assembly.

In 1996, Ludmilla Chiriaff, dance pioneer and founder of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, died in Montreal at age 72.

In 1998, about 10,000 gun owners swarmed Parliament Hill in Ottawa to protest the government's new national gun registry.

In 1999, Swiss drug giant F. Hoffman-laroche Ltd. and four other multinationals pleaded guilty to pricefixing and were fined more than $88 million, one of the stiffest penalties ever imposed in a criminal proceeding in Canada.

In 2007, Marcel Marceau, the master of mime, died in Paris at age 84.

In 2010, British-born Canadian actress Jackie Burroughs, best known for her role as schoolteacher Hetty King on the popular television series “Road to Avonlea”, died at her Toronto home. She had been suffering from gastric cancer. She was 71.

In 2013, Chancellor Angela Merkel led her conservative Union bloc party to victory in Germany's election but fell five seats short of an absolute majority and their coalition partners, the pro-business Free Democrats, were voted out of Parliament. (She later formed a coalition government with centre-left rival Social Democrats.)

In 2014, rookie politician Brian Gallant led his Liberal party to a majority victory in the New Brunswick election as voters turfed David Alward's one-term Tories. Green party leader David Coon won the party's first seat in the legislature while Dominic Cardy stepped down as NDP leader after the party failed to win a single seat.

In 2015, German carmaker Volkswagen AG stunningly admitted about 11 million diesel vehicles built since 2008 were intentionally fitted with software programmed to evade emissions controls. CEO Martin Winterkorn stepped down the next day. VW set aside C$9.6 billion to cover the fallout and lost billions more in market value.

In 2015, lovable legend Yogi Berra, the Hall of Fame catcher renowned as much for his left field wisdom as his unmatched 10 World Series championships with the New York Yankees, died at age 90. “It ain't over 'til it's over” and “It's deja vu all over again!” are among Yogi-isms included in “Bartlett's Familiar Quotations.”