On this date
In 1892, the Sierra Club was organized in San Francisco.
In 1934, the Dionne quintuplets — Annette, Cecile, Emilie, Marie and Yvonne — were born to Elzire Dionne at the family farm in Ontario.
In 1937, in Nazi Germany, Volkswagen was founded by the German Labour Front.
In 1940, during World War II, the Belgian army surrendered to invading German forces.
In 1957, National League owners gave permission for the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants to move to Los Angeles and San Francisco.
In 1987, to the embarrassment of Soviet officials, Mathias Rust, a young West German pilot, landed a private plane in Moscow’s Red Square without authorization. (Rust was freed by the Soviets in 1988.)
In 1998, comic actor Phil Hartman, 49, of “Saturday Night Live” and “NewsRadio” fame, was shot to death at his home in Encino, California, by his wife, Brynn, who then killed herself.
Ten years ago: Nepal’s lawmakers abolished the monarchy and declared the country a republic, ending 239 years of royal rule.
Five years ago: Calling it perhaps the biggest money-laundering scheme in U.S. history, federal prosecutors charged seven people with running what amounted to an online, underworld bank, saying that Liberty Reserve handled $6 billion for drug dealers, child pornographers, identity thieves and other criminals around the globe.
One year ago: A series of shootings in rural Mississippi claimed the lives of eight people at three separate homes; a suspect faces one count of capital murder in the death of Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy William Durr and seven counts of first-degree murder.