Today

· 1803 ÷ The U.S. Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase.

· 1968 ÷ Former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis.

· 1977 ÷ Three members of the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd were killed in the crash of a chartered plane near McComb, Miss.

Tuesday

· 1879 ÷ Thomas Edison invented a workable electric light at his laboratory in Menlo Park, N.J.

· 1966 ÷ More than 140 people, mostly children, were killed when a coal waste landslide engulfed a school and several houses in south Wales.

· 2001 ÷ Washington postal worker Thomas L. Morris Jr. died of inhaled anthrax; officials closed two postal facilities and began testing thousands of postal employees.

Wednesday

· 1962 ÷ President Kennedy announced an air and naval blockade of Cuba, following the discovery of Soviet missile bases on the island.

· 1746 ÷ Princeton University in New Jersey received its charter.

· 1883 ÷ The original Metropolitan Opera House in New York held its grand opening with a performance of Gounod's Î'Faust.''

Thursday

· 1915 ÷ Some 25,000 women marched in New York City demanding the right to vote.

· 1978 ÷ China and Japan exchanged treaty ratification documents in Tokyo, formally ending four decades of hostility.

· 1997 ÷ British au pair Louise Woodward, later convicted of murdering a baby in her care, testified at her trial in Cambridge, Mass. She claimed that she'd never hurt 8-month-old Matthew Eappen, and said, Î'I love kids."

Friday

· 1931 ÷ The George Washington Bridge, connecting New York and New Jersey, opened to traffic.

· 1962 ÷ The U.S. blockade of Cuba during the missile crisis officially began under a proclamation signed by President Kennedy.

· 1992 ÷ The Toronto Blue Jays became the first non-U.S. team to win the World Series as they defeated the Atlanta Braves 4-3 in Game 6.