Today in history

On July 1, 1867, Canada became a self-governing dominion of Great Britain as the British North America Act took effect.

In 1535, Sir Thomas More went on trial in England, charged with high treason for rejecting the Oath of Supremacy. (More was convicted, and executed.)

IIn 1934, Hollywood began enforcing its Production Code subjecting motion pictures to censorship review.

In 1946, the United States exploded a 20-kiloton atomic bomb near Bikini Atoll in the Pacific.

In 1957, the International Geophysical Year, an 18-month global scientific study, began.

In 1961, Diana, the princess of Wales, was born in Sandringham, England. (She died in a 1997 car crash in Paris at age 36.)

In 1973, the Drug Enforcement Administration was established.

In 1980, “O Canada” was proclaimed the national anthem of Canada.

In 1991, President George H.W. Bush nominated federal appeals court judge Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court, beginning an ultimately successful confirmation process marked by allegations of sexual harassment. The Warsaw Pact formally disbanded.

In 1997, Hong Kong reverted to Chinese rule after 156 years as a British colony.

In 2002, the world’s first permanent war crimes tribunal, the International Criminal Court, came into existence.