This Day in History
1799: George Washington dies at Mount Vernon, VA, after an attack of acute laryngitis.
1819: Alabama is admitted to the Union as the 22d state.
1911: Norwegian Roald Amundsen, with 4 men and sled dogs, becomes the first explorer to reach the South Pole.
1918: In Great Britain, women vote for the first time.
1981: Israel annexes the Golan Heights, which it has occupied since 1967.
1993: In Geneva, Switzerland, representatives of 117 countries conclude the GATT treaty to reduce tariffs and eliminate trade quotas.
1995: The Dayton Peace Accords on Bosnia are formally signed in Paris, France. They divide Bosnia and Hercegovina into a Muslim-Croat federation (51%) and a Serb republic (49%), with Sarajevo as the national capital.
1999: The United States officially hands over control of the Panama Canal to Panama.
Today's Birthdays
1503: Nostradamus, astrologer and supposed predictor of the future (Provence, France; died 1566)
1546: Tycho Brahe, astronomer (Denmark; died 1601)
1895: King George VI, king of England and father of Queen Elizabeth II (Norfolk, England; died 1952)
1896: James Doolittle, aviator and World War II hero (Alameda, CA; died 1993)
1897: Margaret Chase Smith, congresswoman and senator (Skowhegan, ME; died 1995)
1919: Shirley Jackson, author (San Francisco, CA; died 1965)
1922: Don Hewitt, TV producer (New York, NY)
1935: Lee Remick, actress (Quincy, MA; died 1991)
1946: Patty Duke, actress (New York, NY)
1963: Helen Slater, actress (Massapequa, NY)
