TODAY IN HISTORY: Court quashes B.C. labour law

In 68 AD, the brutal and paranoid Roman emperor Nero committed suicide at age 31. Nero is regarded as one of the worst of Rome's emperors. He is often accused of "fiddling while Rome burned" although historians generally agree that he did in fact try to control the fire that destroyed much of the city in 64 AD.

In 1549, the Church of England adopted The Book of Common Prayer, compiled by Thomas Cranmer.

In 1793, the importation of slaves into Upper Canada was prohibited.

In 1846, a fire ravaged St. John’s, Nfld., leaving nearly 12,000 people homeless.

In 1866, a 20-year-old Irish soldier won the only Victoria Cross awarded for an act of valour on Canadian soil. Pte. Timothy O'Hea saved 800 German immigrants locked in converted boxcars on a train stopped at Danville, Que. By himself, O’Hea put out a fire in another boxcar filled with ammunition before it exploded.

In 1870, British author Charles Dickens died at age 58.

In 1902, the Automat Restaurant, the first restaurant with food vending machines, opened in Philadelphia.

In 1934, the first successful field test of FM radio was conducted by Edwin Howard Armstrong in Alpine, N.J.

In 1940, during the Second World War, Norway decided to surrender to the Nazis, effective at midnight.

In 1947, wartime control and rationing of all dairy products in Canada ended.

In 1959, one of Canada's most sensational criminal cases began when 12-year-old Lynne Harper was murdered near the southwestern Ontario community of Clinton. Fourteen-year-old Steven Truscott was convicted and served 10 years in prison. In 2007, the Ontario Court of Appeal unanimously overturned that conviction, declaring the case “a miscarriage of justice.”

In 1964, Lord Beaverbrook, the Canadian-born British cabinet minister and media magnate, died at age 85.

In 1968, the first national televised debate of Canadian political leaders was held. It featured Pierre Trudeau, Robert Stanfield, Tommy Douglas and Real Caouette.

In 1973, Secretariat became thoroughbred horse racing's first Triple Crown winner in 25 years. New Brunswick-born jockey Ron Turcotte rode Secretariat to an incredible 31-length victory in the Belmont Stakes.

In 1978, the Mormon Church announced it would admit black men to the priesthood.

In 1986, a U.S. presidential commission found the failure of a rocket joint was the single physical cause of the Challenger shuttle disaster.

In 1988, the Supreme Court of Canada quashed Newfoundland's 12-year battle with Quebec for a greater share of the giant Churchill Falls Hydro project.

In 1991, Mount Pinatubo, located in the Philippines and dormant for six centuries, exploded in a tower of ash and smoke. The eruption forced the evacuation of 20 villages.

In 1997, Stanley Knowles, the man known as the conscience of Parliament, died in Ottawa at age 88. He spent four decades in the Commons, championing the poor and disadvantaged.

In 1999, after 78 days of NATO air attacks, Yugoslavia agreed to begin withdrawing troops from Kosovo and allow the deployment of an international security force in the province.

In 2007, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled the right to collective bargaining in the workplace is protected by the Charter of Rights, striking down controversial B.C. legislation that had contracted out work, axing thousands of jobs.

In 2009, voters in Nova Scotia elected the first NDP government in Atlantic Canada as they delivered a decisive majority win to Darrell Dexter's New Democratic Party.