On this date:
In 1820, US Navy Captain Nathaniel B. Palmer discovered the frozen continent of Antarctica.
In 1883, the United States and Canada adopted a system of Standard Time zones.
In 1886, the 21st president of the United States, Chester A. Arthur, died in New York at age 56.
In 1899, musical conductor Eugene Ormandy was born in Budapest, Hungary.
In 1936, Germany and Italy recognized the Spanish government of Francisco Franco.
In 1949, Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers was named the National League's Most Valuable Player.
In 1959, "Ben-Hur," the Biblical-era spectacle starring Charlton Heston, had its world premiere in New York.
In 1969, financier-diplomat Joseph P. Kennedy died in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, at age 81.
In 1978, California Congressman Leo J. Ryan and four other people were killed in Jonestown, Guyana, by members of the Peoples Temple; the killings were followed by a night of mass murder and suicide by 912 cult members.
In 1987, the congressional Iran-Contra committees issued their final report, saying President Reagan bore "ultimate responsibility" for wrongdoing by his aides.
Ten years ago: President Bush began a series of meetings in Paris with allied leaders aimed at solidifying support for his Persian Gulf policies. Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev met at the Vatican with Pope John Paul the Second, who said all possible efforts should be made to avoid war in the Persian Gulf.
Five years ago: With no relief in sight from a budget impasse that forced a partial federal shutdown, the House rebelled against Republican leaders during a raucous Saturday session and voted to oppose formally adjourning the chamber until Monday. (GOP leaders put the chamber into recess anyway.)
One year ago: Twelve people were killed when a bonfire under construction at Texas A&M University collapsed. A jury in Jasper, Texas, convicted Shawn Allen Berry of murder for his role in the dragging death of James Byrd Junior, but spared him the death penalty. American author and composer Paul Bowles, best known for "The Sheltering Sky" and other novels set in North Africa, died in Morocco at age 88.
"It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man in argument."
-- William G. McAdoo, American government official (1863-1941).