| On this date in: |
| 1857 |
Britain’s Queen Victoria decided to make Ottawa the capital of Canada. |
| 1862 |
President Abraham Lincoln signed an act admitting West Virginia to the Union. |
| 1951 |
The Marshall Plan expired after distributing more than $12 billion in foreign aid. |
| 1974 |
Private U.S. citizens were allowed to buy and own gold for the first time in more than 40 years. |
| 1985 |
Rock singer Rick Nelson, 45, and six other people were killed when fire broke out aboard a DC-3 that was taking the group to a New Year’s Eve performance in Dallas. |
| 1993 |
Entertainer Barbra Streisand performed her first paid concert in 22 years, singing to a sellout crowd at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas. |
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| AP Photo/Amy Sancetta |
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| 1997 |
Michael Kennedy, the 39-year-old son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, was killed in a skiing accident on Aspen Mountain in Colorado. |
| 2006 |
The death toll for Americans killed in the Iraq war reached 3,000. |
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| Today’s Birthdays: |
| Actor Ben Kingsley turns 72 years old today. |
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| AP Photo/Peter Kramer |
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| Name |
Profession |
Age |
| Andy Summers |
Rock musician (The Police) |
73 |
| Taylor Hackford |
Director, producer |
71 |
| Diane Von Furstenberg |
Fashion designer |
69 |
| Burton Cummings |
Rock musician (The Guess Who) |
68 |
| Tim Matheson |
Actor (“Animal House,” “The West Wing”) |
68 |
| Bebe Neuwirth |
Actress (“Cheers”) |
57 |
| Val Kilmer |
Actor |
56 |
| Paul Westerberg |
Rock singer (The Replacements) |
56 |
| Actor Anthony Hopkins turns 78 years old today. |
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| AP Photo/Dan Steinberg |
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