On this date in

1590 Pope Urban VII dies 13 days after being chosen Pope, making his reign the shortest in Papal history.

1777 Lancaster, Pa., became the capital of the United States for one day.

1821 Mexico gained its independence from Spain.

1822 Jean-Francois Champollion announced he had deciphered the Rosetta Stone.

1903 In an accident that inspired a popular ballad, the "Old 97," a Southern Railway train, wrecked en route from Monroe, Va., to Spencer, N.C.

1905 Albert Enstein's paper, "Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon It's Energy Content?", which introduced the equation E = MC squared, was published.

1908 The first Ford Motel T was built.

1930 Bobby Jones won golf's Grand Slam.

1938 The ocean liner Queen Elizabeth was launched.

1954 "Tonight!" (the predecessor to "The Tonight Show") made its debut on NBC television with Steve Allen as the show's host.

1964 The Warren Commission issued a report that said Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in assassinating President John Kennedy.

1996 The Taliban captured Afghanistan's capital city of Kabul, drove out President Burhanuddin Rabbani and executed former leader Mohammad Najibullah.

1998 Google was launched.

1999 Tiger Stadium closed.

Born on this date:
Political leader Coismo de Midici (1389-1464)
Politician-statesman-brewer Samuel Adams (1722-1803)
Magician Harry Blackstone Sr. (1885-1965)
German pilot Lothar von Richthofen (1894-1922)
Politican Sam Ervin (1896-1985)
Author Jim Thompson (1906-1977)
Television producer William T. Orr (1917-2002)
Actor William Conrad (1920-1994)
Actor Will Sampson (1933-1987)
Actor Greg Morris (1933-1996)
Sports reporter Dick Schaap (1934-2001)
Photojournalist Dith Pran (1942-2008)