Today

1963 ÷ Jack Ruby shot and mortally wounded Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of President Kennedy.

1859 ÷ British naturalist Charles Darwin published "On the Origin of Species," which explained his theory of evolution.

1985 ÷ The hijacking of an EgyptAir jetliner parked on the ground in Malta ended with 60 deaths when Egyptian commandos stormed the plane; two of the dead were shot by the hijackers.

Tomorrow

1914 ÷ Baseball player Joe DiMaggio was born in Martinez, Calif.

1963 ÷ The body of President Kennedy was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.

1999 ÷ Elian Gonzalez was rescued by a pair of sport fishermen off the coast of Florida.

Wednesday

1789 ÷ A day of thanksgiving was set aside by President Washington to observe the adoption of the U.S. Constitution.

1825 ÷ The first social college fraternity, Kappa Alpha, was formed at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y.

1940 ÷ The Nazis forced half-million Jews of Warsaw, Poland to live within a walled ghetto.

Thursday

1910 ÷ New York's Pennsylvania Station opened.

1978 ÷ San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and City Supervisor Harvey Milk ÷ the city's first openly gay elected official ÷ were shot to death inside City Hall by former supervisor Dan White.

1998 ÷ Answering 81 questions put to him three weeks earlier, President Clinton wrote the House Judiciary Committee that his testimony in the Monica Lewinsky affair was "not false and misleading."

Friday

1520 ÷ Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan reached the Pacific Ocean after passing through the South American strait that now bears his name.

1994 ÷ Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was murdered in a Wisconsin prison by a fellow inmate.

2001 ÷ Enron Corp., once the world's largest energy trader, collapsed after would-be rescuer Dynegy Inc. backed out of an $8.4 billion deal to take it over.