On this day...

1870-NY Times dubs baseball "The National Game"

1895-Alfred Nobel establishes Nobel Prize

1910-NY's Penn Station opens as world's largest railway terminal

1926-Restoration of Williamsburg, Virginia, begins

1941-USSR begins a counter offensive causing Germany to retreat

1951-First rocket to intercept an airplane, White Sands, NM

1958-USSR abrogates Allied war-time agreements on control of Germany

1970-Pope Paul VI wounded in chest during a visit to Philippines by a dagger-wielding Bolivian painter disguised as a priest

1980-Soyuz T-3 carries 3 cosmonauts to Salyut 6 space station, launched

1985-Republic of Ireland gains consultative role in Northern Ireland

1989-U.S. 63rd manned space mission STS 33 (Discovery 9) returns from space

1990-Britain's conservatives chose John Major to succeed Margaret Thatcher