TODAY IN HISTORY
1789
Benjamin Franklin wrote in a letter to a friend, JeanBaptiste Leroy: “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”
1909
259 men and boys were killed when fire erupted inside a coal mine in Cherry, Ill.
1937
The NBC Symphony Orchestra, formed exclusively for radio broadcasting, made its debut.
1956
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that struck down laws calling for racial segregation on public city and state buses.
1974
Karen Silkwood, a 28-yearold technician and union activist at the Kerr-McGee Cimarron plutonium plant near Crescent, Okla., died in a car crash while on her way to meet a reporter.
2015
The worst attack on French soil since World War II took place as Islamic State militants carried out a set of coordinated attacks in Paris on the national stadium, restaurants and streets, and a crowded concert hall, killing 130 people and wounding more than 350.