TODAY IN HISTORY
In 1842, Abraham Lincoln married Mary Todd in Springfield, Illinois.
In 1879, humorist Will Rogers was born in Oologah, Oklahoma.
In 1922, the entrance to King Tutankhamen’s tomb was discovered in Egypt.
In 1942, during World War II, Axis forces retreated from El Alamein in North Africa in a major victory for British forces commanded by Lt. Gen. Bernard Montgomery.
In 1956, Soviet troops moved in to crush the Hungarian Revolution.
In 1979, the Iran hostage crisis began as militants stormed the United States Embassy in Tehran, seizing its occupants; for some of the hostages, it was the start of 444 days of captivity.
In 1980, Republican Ronald Reagan won the White House as he defeated President Jimmy Carter by a strong margin.
In 1985, to the shock and dismay of U.S. officials, Soviet defector Vitaly Yurchenko announced he was returning to the Soviet Union, charging he had been kidnapped by the CIA.
In 1991, Ronald Reagan opened his presidential library in Simi Valley, California; attending were President George H.W. Bush and former Presidents Jimmy Carter, Gerald R. Ford and Richard Nixon — the first-ever gathering of five past and present U.S. chief executives.
In 1995, Yitzhak Rabin, prime minister of Israel, was assassinated by a right-wing Israeli minutes after attending a peace rally.
In 2007, King Tutankhamen’s face was unveiled for the first time to the public more than 3,000 years after the pharaoh was buried in his Egyptian tomb.
In 2008, Democrat Barack Obama was elected the first Black president of the United States, defeating Republican John McCain.
In 2020, a day after the presidential election, victories in Michigan and Wisconsin left Joe Biden one battleground state short of winning the White House. President Donald Trump falsely claimed victory in several key states and called the election process “a major fraud on our nation.”
In 2021, the Biden administration issued a rule requiring tens of millions of Americans who worked at companies with 100 or more employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or get tested for the virus weekly. (The Supreme Court rejected that rule in January 2022.)
BIRTHDAYS
Actor Loretta Swit is 86.
R&B singer Harry Elston (Friends of Distinction) is 85.
Blues singer Delbert McClinton is 83.
Former first lady Laura Bush is 77.
Actor Ivonne Coll is 76.
Rock singer-musician Chris Difford (Squeeze) is 69.
Country singer Kim Forester (The Forester Sisters) is 63.
Actor-comedian Kathy Griffin is 63.
Actor Ralph Macchio is 62.
“Survivor” host Jeff Probst is 62.
Actor Matthew McConaughey is 54.
Rapper-producer Sean “Puffy” Combs is 54.
TV personality Bethenny Frankel is 53.
Actor Anthony Ruivivar is 53.
Soul/jazz singer Gregory Porter is 52.
Celebrity chef Curtis Stone is 48.
Actor Heather Tom is 48.
R&B/gospel singer George Huff is 43.
Actor Emme Rylan is 43.
Actor Chris Greene (Film: “Loving”) is 41.
