On this date in

1780 The deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record killed between 20,000 and 30,000 persons in the Caribbean.

1845 The Naval School (later called the United States Naval Academy) opened in Annapolis, Md.

1889 Barnard College was founded.

1911 An uprising began that led to the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty and the establishment of the Republic of China.

1957 President Dwight D. Eisenhower apologized to Komla Agbeli Gbedemah, the finance minister of Ghana, after the official had been refused service in a Dover, Del., restaurant.

1964 The 18th Summer Olympic Games opened in Tokyo.

1970 Fiji became independent after nearly a century of British rule.

1971 The reassembled London Bridge was opened in Lake Havasu City, Ariz.

1973 Vice President Spiro T. Agnew resigned after being charged with income tax invasion.

1985 U.S. fighter jets forced an Egyptian plane carrying the hijackers of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro to land in Italy, where the gunmen were taken into custody.

Born on this date
Mary Plantagenet (1344-1362)
Henry Cavendish (1731-1810)
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
Robert Gould Shaw (1837-1863)
Helen Hayes (1900-1993)
Ivory Joe Hunter (1914-1974)
Thelonious Monk (1917-1982)
James Clavell (1924-1994)
Richard Jaeckel (1926-1997)
Dana Elcar (1927-2005)
Jay Sebring (1933-1969)
Daniel Pearl (1963-2002)
Chris Penn (1965-2006)

Died on this date
William H. Seward (1801-1872)
Adolphus Busch (1839-1913)
Edith Piaf (1915-1963)
Eddie Cantor (1892-1964)
Ralph Richardson (1902-1983)
Yul Brynner (1920-1985)
Orson Welles (1915-1985)
Clark Clifford (1906-1998)
Ken Caminiti (1963-2004)
Christopher Reeve (1952-2004)