This Day In History
1492: Spanish forces capture the city of Granada from the Moors, ending 700 years of Muslim rule in
Spain.
1777: The British
under Charles Cornwallis recapture Trenton
from George Washington's army in the Second Battle of Trenton.
1788: Georgia enters the Union
as the fourth state.
1959: The USSR
launches the moon probe Luna 1, which becomes the first spacecraft to orbit
the sun.
1974: Pres.
Richard Nixon signs a measure setting highway speeds at a 55 mph maximum.
1992: Russia lifts
state price controls on most goods and services—a major economic reform.
2006: A methane
gas explosion in a Sago, West
Virginia, coal mine traps 13 miners, 12 of whom have
died by the time rescuers find them.
Today's Birthdays
1548: Francisco Suárez, Spanish Jesuit theologian
and philosopher (Granada, Spain; died 1617)
1779: Zebulon
Pike, Army officer and explorer (Lamberton, NJ; died 1813); Stephen Decatur,
American naval officer (Sinepuxent, MD; died 1820)
1876: Konrad
Adenauer, first chancellor of West
Germany (Cologne, Germany; died 1967)
1909: Jean-Pierre
Aumont, actor (Paris, France; died 2001)
1918: Jeane
Dixon, astrologer (Medford, WI; died 1997)
1921: Friedrich
Duerrenmatt, playwright, novelist and essayist (Konolfingen, Switzerland; died
1990)
1928: Walter Mondale,
MN senator, vice president, and presidential
candidate (Ceylon,
MN)
1931: Alvin
Ailey, dancer/choreographer and founder of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
(Rogers, TX; died 1989); Robert Duvall, actor (San Diego, CA)
1932: Umberto
Eco, author (Alessandria, Italy)
1935: Dick
Enberg, sportscaster (Auburn Hills,
MI)
1938: King Juan
Carlos I, king of Spain (Rome, Italy)
1942: Charlie
Rose, TV personality and journalist (Henderson,
NC)
1946: Diane
Keaton, actress (Santa Ana,
CA)
1953: George
Tenet, former CIA director (Queens,
NY)
1954: Pamela Sue
Martin, actress (Westport, CT)
1969: Marilyn
Manson, singer (Canton, OH)
