Today in History

Suicide bombing in Mogadishu, Somalia, kills 25 people, including three ministries of the Transitional Federal Government.

Prince Sverre Magnus, third in line of succession to the Norwegian throne.

Representatives of 121 nations sign the Ottawa Treaty prohibiting the manufacture or deployment of antipersonnel landmines; the People’s Republic of China, the US and the USSR do not sign.

A test engineer for Sema Group sends the world’s first text message, using a personal computer and the Vodafone network.

Presidents George Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev announce the official end to the Cold War at a meeting in Malta.

Toxic gas leaks from a Union Carbide plant and results in the deaths of thousands in Bhopal, India.

Eleven are dead and eight injured in a mad rush to see a rock band (The Who) at a concert in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The State Department proposes the admission of 10,000 more Vietnamese refugees to the United States.

Holly Marie Combs, actress, TV producer (Charmed; Pretty Little Liars TV series).

The National Council of Churches asks the United States to halt the massive bombings in North Vietnam.

Terri Schiavo, who became the focus of a 15-year legal struggle over the question of artificially prolonging the life of a patient, Schiavo, whom doctors had diagnosed as being in a persistent vegetative state.

Daryl Hannah, actress (Blade Runner, Steel Magnolias).

Rick Mears, race car driver; three-time Indycar national champion (1979, 1981, 1982).

The Chinese close in on Pyongyang, Korea, and UN forces withdraw southward.

Ozzy Osbourne, singer, songwriter, actor; member of the influential rock band Black Sabbath; an MTV reality show, The Osbournes, followed the lives of the singer and his family (2002-05).

Morgan Llywelyn, American-born Irish author noted for historical fantasy and historical fiction novels, as well as historical nonfiction (1921, the War for Independence); received Exceptional Celtic Woman of the Year award (1999).

Abimael Guzman (Presidente Gonzalo), leader of the Shining Path Maoist guerrilla insurgency in Peru.

Paul Crutzen, Dutch chemist.

British reports claim that German soldiers are being trained in the Soviet Union.

Jean-Luc Godard, French film director (Breathless).

Sven Nykvist, Swedish cinematographer.

The Allied Conference ends in London where they decide that Germany must pay for the war.

French commander Joseph Joffre is dismissed after his failure at the Somme. General Robert Nivelle is the new French commander in chief.

The United States expels German attaches on spy charges.

The U.S. Supreme Court orders Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) leaders extradited to Idaho for trial in the Steunenberg murder case.

Major General William Tecumseh Sherman meets with slight resistance from Confederate troops at Thomas Station on his march to the sea.

Confederate General James Longstreet moves his army east and north toward Greeneville. This withdrawal marks the end of the Fall Campaign in Tennessee.

Confederate raiders attack a Federal forage train on the Hardin Pike near Nashville, Tenn.

Joseph Conrad, Polish-born novelist (Heart of Darkness, Nostromo).

Frederick Douglass and Martin R. Delaney establish the North Star, and anti-slavery paper.

Carlos Juan Finlay, Cuban epidemiologist.

George B. McClellan, Union general who defeated Robert E. Lee at Antietam and ran against Abraham Lincoln for president.

Illinois admitted into the Union as the 21st state.

The French defeat an Austrian army at the Battle of Hohenlinden, near Munich.

France cedes to Spain all lands west of the Mississippi–the territory known as Upper Louisiana.

Gilbert Stewart, portrait painter.

Lorenzo the Magnificent and his brother Giuliano succeed their father, Piero de Medici, as rulers of Florence, Italy.