TODAY IN HISTORY: Alcatraz closes

In 1556, Thomas Cranmer, author of the Book of Common Prayer and the churchman who proposed a method by which Henry VIII could divorce Catherine of Aragon without dispensation from Rome, was burned at the stake by order of the Catholic queen, Mary I. She attempted to restore Catholicism as England's official religion.

In 1617, Pocohontas, an Indian princess who married English settler John Rolfe, died in England at the age of 22.

In 1944, comedian Charlie Chaplin went on trial in Los Angeles, accused of transporting former protegee Joan Barry across state lines for immoral purposes. Chaplin was acquitted, but he lost a paternity suit despite tests showing he wasn't the father of Barry's child.

In 1963, the Alcatraz federal prison island in San Francisco Bay was emptied of its last inmates at the order of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.

In 1989, Madonna's “Like a Prayer” album was released. It sold 15 million copies spawning the hits “Express Yourself,” “Oh Father,” “Cherish,” and the title song.

In 2005, a high school student in Red Lake, Minn., killed his grandfather and the man's girlfriend at their home and then seven people at his school, before killing himself after exchanging gunfire with police.

In 2010, the Vancouver Winter Paralympics came to a close. Canada's overall medal count of 10 gold and 19 overall (five silver and four bronze) topped any Winter Paralympic haul.