This Day in History
In Alaska
• In 1863, Hudson Stuck, Alaska missionary, mountain climber and author, was born in England.
• In 1974, a fast-moving storm with 70 mph winds battered Nome, flooding streets, destroying homes and leaving smaller communities without adequate food and water.
• In 1980, Pavlof Volcano, an 8,905-foot peak near Cold Bay, was described as "erupting like a blowtorch" by a Reeve-Aleutian Airways pilot.
In the nation
• In 1620, 41 Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower, anchored off Massachusetts, signed a compact calling for a "body politick."
• In 1831, former slave Nat Turner, who had led a violent insurrection, was executed in Jerusalem, Va.
• In 1889, Washington became the 42nd state.
• In 1921, President Harding dedicated the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.
• In 1938, Kate Smith first sang Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" on network radio.
• In 1966, Gemini 12 blasted off from Cape Kennedy, Fla., with astronauts James A. Lovell and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin Jr. aboard.
• In 1993, a bronze statue honoring the more than 11,000 American women who had served in the Vietnam War was dedicated in Washington, D.C.
• In 1995, with a partial government shutdown looming, President Clinton and Republican congressional leaders clashed over Medicare and bickered over who to include in compromise budget talks.
• In 2000, Republicans went to court, seeking an order to block manual recounts from continuing in Florida's razor-thin presidential election.
In the world
• In 1918, fighting in World War I came to an end with the signing of an armistice between the Allies and Germany.
• In 1942, during World War II, Germany completed its occupation of France.
• In 1965, Rhodesia proclaimed its independence from Britain.
• In 2000, a cable car crammed with skiers and snowboarders caught fire while being pulled through an Alpine tunnel in Austria, killing 155 people.