| On this date in: |
| 1788 |
The first European settlers in Australia landed in present-day Sydney. |
| 1802 |
Congress passed an act calling for a library to be established within the U.S. Capitol. |
| 1837 |
Michigan became the 26th state. |
| 1861 |
Louisiana seceded from the Union. |
| 1870 |
Virginia rejoined the Union. |
| 1925 |
Actor Paul Newman was born in Cleveland, Ohio. |
| 1950 |
India proclaimed itself a republic. |
| 1979 |
Former Vice President Nelson A. Rockefeller died at age 70. |
| 1988 |
The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical “Phantom of the Opera,” the longest-running show in Broadway history, opened at the Majestic Theater in New York. |
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| AP Photo/Ed Bailey |
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| 1993 |
Former Czechoslovak President Vaclav Havel was elected president of the new Czech Republic. |
| 1996 |
First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton testified before a grand jury connected to the Whitewater probe. |
| 2001 |
An earthquake hit the Indian subcontinent, killing more than 13,000 people. |
| 2005 |
Condoleezza Rice was sworn in as secretary of state. |
| 2006 |
Confronted by Oprah Winfrey on her syndicated talk show, author James Frey acknowledged lies in his addiction memoir “A Million Little Pieces.” |
| 2009 |
“Octomom” Nadya Suleman of Whittier, Calif., gave birth to octuplets conceived by in vitro fertilization. Suleman was already a mother of six. |
