On this date in

1565 The first permanent European settlement in North America was established at what is today St. Augustine, Fla.

1664 The Dutch surrendered New Amsterdam to the British who renamed it New York.

1841 Composer Antonin Dvorak was born.

1889 Robert A. Taft, a prominent conservative politican and a New Deal opponent, was born.

1897 Jimmie Rodgers, country music's first superstar, was born.

1900 A hurricane struck Galveston killing at least 6,000 people; liberal politician Claude Pepper was born.

1921 Margaret Gorman became the first Miss America.

1930 The comic strip "Blondie" was published for the first time.

1932 Country singer Patsy Cline was born.

1935 Louisiana senator Huey P. Long was shot; he died two days later.

1941 The Siege of Leningrad began.

1952 Ernest Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea" was published.

1966 The television show "Star Trek" premiered.

1974 President Ford unconditionally pardoned Richard Nixon.

1975 Court-ordered city wide busing began in Boston.