This Day in History
1778: Britain declares war on France, and France signs a treaty of alliance with the United States.
1788: Massachusetts enters the Union as the sixth of the 13 original states.
1922: The Limitation of Armaments Conference ends in Washington, DC, with the major powers agreeing to curtail naval construction, outlaw poison gas, restrict submarine attacks on merchant ships, and respect the integrity of China.
1950: Pres. Harry Truman invokes the emergency provisions of the Taft-Hartley Act.
1952: King George VI of England dies and is succeeded by his daughter, who becomes Queen Elizabeth II.
1974: The House of Representatives votes to give the Judiciary Committee broad powers to pursue its impeachment inquiry against Pres. Richard Nixon.
2001: After months of violence between Palestinians and Israelis, Likud hardliner Ariel Sharon is elected prime minister of Israel in a landslide victory over Labor's Ehud Barak.
2004: In Russia , a female suicide bomber kills 39 and wounds more than 200 on a crowded Moscow subway train during the morning rush hour.
Today's Birthdays
1756: Aaron Burr, 3d vice president of the United States who killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel (Newark, NJ; died 1836)
1895: Babe Ruth, baseball player (Baltimore, MD; died 1948)
1911: Ronald Reagan, 40th president of the United States (Tampico, IL; died 2004)
1917: Zsa Zsa Gabor, actress (Budapest, Hungary)
1931: Rip Torn, actor (Temple, TX)
1932: François Truffaut, director (Paris, France; died 1984). Mamie Van Doren, actress (Rowena, SD):
1939: Mike Farrell, actor (St. Paul, MN)
1940: Tom Brokaw, TV journalist (Webster, SD)
1942: Sarah Brady, gun control activist (Alexandria, VA)
1943: Fabian, singer (Philadelphia, PA)
1944: Michael Tucker, actor (Baltimore, MD)
1945: Bob Marley, reggae singer (Jamaica; died 1981)
1950: Natalie Cole, singer (Los Angeles, CA)
1957: Kathy Najimy, actress (San Diego, CA)
1962: Axl Rose, singer (Lafayette, IN)
