TODAY IN HISTORY

On this day in 1503

French physician and prophet Nostradamus was born. He remains famous today for his book The Prophecies, which was first published in 1555. His supporters credit it with predicting a number of major world events, but many academics say there is no proof to the claims and say they are based on misinterpretations of ambiguous statements.

Also on this day:

In 1911, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen became the first person to reach the South Pole.

In 2006, a British police investigation report refuted conspiracy claims in Princess Diana’s death nearly 10 years earlier — calling it a “tragic accident.”

In 2008, an Iraqi journalist threw a pair of shoes at U.S. President Bush at a news conference during his farewell trip to Iraq. Muntadhar al-Zeidi’s act of protest against the presence of U.S. troops in his country made him a hero for many in the Arab and Muslim worlds, where many blamed Bush for the bloodshed in Iraq. Al-Zeidi was quickly wrestled to the ground by security guards, then imprisoned for nine months.

In 2012, a gunman with a semi-automatic rifle killed 20 first-graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., then committed suicide as police arrived; the 20-year-old assailant had fatally shot his mother at their home before carrying out the attack on the school.