1558 Queen Elizabeth I of England ascended to the throne upon the death of her half-sister Queen Mary.
1800 Congress met in Washington, DC, for the first time.
1869 The Suez Canal opened in Egypt.
1917 Sculptor Auguste Rodin died in Meudon, France.
1968 Night of the "Heidi bowl:" NBC switched from football to movie of Heidi. In the missing 42 seconds, the lagging Raiders scored two touchdowns, defeating the Jets.
1973 President Nixon said "I am not a crook."
1989 The beginning of the "Velvet Revolution," which led to the downfall of communism in Czechoslovakia.
2003 Arnold Schwarzenegger was sworn in as governor of California.
