TODAY IN HISTORY

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 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, for the first time, 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.