Today is Tuesday, Dec. 30, the 364th day of 2014. There is one day left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Dec. 30, 1922, Vladimir I. Lenin proclaimed the establishment of the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics, which lasted nearly seven decades before dissolving in Dec. 1991.
On this date:
In 1813, British troops burned Buffalo, New York, during the War of 1812.
In 1853, the United States and Mexico signed a treaty under which the U.S. agreed to buy some 45,000
square miles of land from Mexico for $10 million in a deal known as the Gadsden Purchase.
In 1903, about 600 people died when fire broke out at the recently opened Iroquois Theater in Chicago.

In 1936, the United Auto Workers union staged its first "sit-down" strike at the General Motors
Fisher Body Plant No. 1 in Flint, Michigan. (The strike lasted until Feb. 11, 1937.)
In 1944, King George II of Greece proclaimed a regency to rule his country, virtually renouncing the
throne.
In 1954, Olympic gold medal runner Malvin G. Whitfield became the first black recipient of the James E.
Sullivan Award for amateur athletes.
In 1965, Ferdinand Marcos was inaugurated for his first term as president of the Philippines.
In 1979, Broadway composer Richard Rodgers died in New York at age 77.
In 1989, a Northwest Airlines DC-10, which had been the target of a telephoned threat, flew safely from
Paris to Detroit with 22 passengers amid extra-tight security.
In 1994, a gunman walked into a pair of suburban Boston abortion clinics and opened fire, killing two
employees. (John C. Salvi III was later convicted of murder; he died in prison, an apparent suicide.)

In 1999, former Beatle George Harrison fought off a knife-wielding intruder who broke into his mansion
west of London and stabbed him in the chest. (Michael Abram was later acquitted of attempted murder by
reason of insanity.)
In 2006, Iraqis awoke to news that Saddam Hussein had been hanged; victims of his three decades of
autocratic rule took to the streets to celebrate.