Today in History

From wikipedia.org:

Events
627 - Battle of Nineveh
1531 - Apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico City
1787 - Pennsylvania becomes the second state to ratify the United States Constitution
1870 - Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina becomes the first black U.S. congressman
1901 - First radio transmission across the Atlantic Ocean by Guglielmo Marconi
1913 - Mona Lisa recovered in Florence, two years after it was stolen
1917 - In Nebraska, Father Edward J. Flanagan founds Boys Town as a farm village for wayward boys (in 1979 it was opened to girls as well)
1937 - Panay incident
1939 - Finland defeated the Soviet Union in the Battle of Tolvajärvi, their first major victory in the Winter War

Births
1745 - John Jay, United States Supreme Court justice (d. 1829)
1805 - William Lloyd Garrison, abolitionist (d. 1879)
1900 - Sammy Davis, Sr., American dancer
1914 - Patrick O'Brian, British author (d. 2000)
1915 - Frank Sinatra, American singer and actor (d. 1998)

Deaths
1929 - Charles Goodnight, cattle baron (b. 1836)
1939 - Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., American actor (b. 1883)
1968 - Tallulah Bankhead, actress (b. 1902)
1994 - Stuart Roosa, Apollo Astronaut (b. 1933)
2003 - Keiko, the killer whale in the Free Willy movies

Holidays & observances
Roman Catholic - Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe