On this date

English In 1558, throne Elizabeth upon I acceded the death to of the her half a 44-year sister, Queen reign. Mary, beginning In 1800, Congress held its first session in the partially completed U.S. Capitol building. In 1869, the Suez Canal opened in

Egypt.

In 1889, the Union Pacific Railroad Co. began direct, daily railroad service between Chicago and Portland, Ore., as well as Chicago and San Francisco. In 1979, Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini ordered the release of 13 black and/or female American hostages being held at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. In 1987, a federal jury in Denver convicted two white supremacists of civil rights violations in the 1984 slaying of radio talk show host Alan Berg. (Both men later died in prison.) In 2006, former “Seinfeld” star Michael Richards unleashed a barrage of racial epithets during a stand-up routine at the Laugh Factory in West Hollywood.

Ten years ago: In their first meeting since the election, Barack Obama and former rival John McCain met at the president-elect’s transition headquarters in Chicago, where they pledged to work together on ways to change Washington’s “bad habits.” Five years ago: Intense thunderstorms and tornadoes swept across the Midwest, causing extensive damage in several central Illinois communities, killing more than half a dozen people. One year ago: Sen. Al Franken apologized to the woman who had accused him of forcibly kissing her and groping her during a 2006 USO tour; the Minnesota Democrat said he remembered the encounter differently.

Associated Press