HISTORY

Highlight: In 1940, rock ’n’ roll legend John Lennon was born in Liverpool, England. (On this date in 1975, his son, Sean, was born in New York.)

In 1514, Mary Tudor, the 18-year-old sister of Henry VIII, became Queen consort of France upon her marriage to 52-year-old King Louis XII, who died less than three months later.

In 1776, a group of Spanish missionaries settled in present-day San Francisco.

In 1888, the public was first admitted to the Washington Monument.

In 1914, the Belgian city of Antwerp fell to German forces during World War I.

In 1934, King Alexander I of Yugoslavia was assassinated in Marseille, France, by a Macedonian gunman.

In 1958, Pope Pius XII died at age 82, ending a 19-year papacy. (He was succeeded by Pope John XXIII.)

In 1967, Latin American guerrilla leader Che Guevara was killed by the Bolivian army a day after he was captured.

In 1985, the hijackers of the Achille Lauro cruise liner surrendered two days after seizing the vessel in the Mediterranean. (Passenger Leon Klinghoffer was killed by the hijackers during the standoff.)

In 1995, a sabotaged section of track caused an Amtrak train, the Sunset Limited, to derail in Arizona; one person was killed and about 80 were injured (the case remains unsolved).

In 2009, President Barack Obama was named the recipient of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize for what the Norwegian Nobel Committee called “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”

Ten years ago: Dozens of foreign tourists fled devastated lakeside Mayan towns as Guatemalan officials said they would abandon communities buried by landslides caused by Hurricane Stan and declare them mass graveyards. A driverless Volkswagen Touareg, designed by Stanford University, won a $2 million race across the rugged Nevada desert, beating four other robot-guided vehicles that completed a Pentagon-sponsored contest aimed at making warfare safer for humans.

Five years ago: Chile’s 33 trapped miners cheered and embraced each other as a drill punched into their underground chamber where they had been stuck for an agonizing 66 days. The International Monetary Fund wrapped up two days of talks in Washington without resolving deep differences over currency movements.

One year ago: Six U.S. military planes arrived in the Ebola hot zone with more Marines as West African leaders pleaded for the world’s help in dealing with what Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma described as “a tragedy unforeseen in modern times.”

BIRTHDAYS

Retired MLB All-Star Joe Pepitone is 75. Former Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., is 74. Singer Jackson Browne is 67. Actress-TV personality Sharon Osbourne is 63. Actor Tony Shalhoub is 62. Pro and College Football Hall of Famer Mike Singletary is 57. Movie director Guillermo del Toro is 51. British Prime Minister David Cameron is 49. Singer P.J. Harvey is 46. Movie director Steve McQueen is 46. World Golf Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam is 45. Rock singer Sean Lennon is 40. Actor Randy Spelling is 37.