On this day, December 14

1799 The first president of the United States, George Washington, died at his Mount Vernon, Va., home at age 67. 1861 Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, died at Windsor Castle at age 42.

1955 Charles B. Nutting, vice chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh, was named director of the Buhl Foundation. 1988 Demolition began at the Shippingsport Atomic Power Plant, the world’s first commercial nuclear power plant. 2012 A gunman with a semi-automatic rifle killed 20 first-graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, then committed suicide as police arrived; the 20year-old had also fatally shot his mother at their home before carrying out the attack on the school.

Some items are from Stefan Lorant’s “Pittsburgh: The Story of an American City” (digital.library.pitt.edu/chronology). — Compiled by Rick Nowlin

Today’s birthdays: Singer-actor Abbe Lane, 89. Actor Hal Williams, 86. Actorsinger Jane Birkin, 74. Pop singer Joyce Vincent-Wilson (Tony Orlando and Dawn), 74. Entertainment executive Michael Ovitz, 74. Actor Dee Wallace, 72. Rhythm-andblues singer Ronnie McNeir (The Four Tops), 71. Rock musician Cliff Williams, 71. Actor-comedian T.K. Carter, 64. Actor Cynthia Gibb, 57. Actor Nancy Valen, 55. Actor Archie Kao, 51. Actor Natascha McElhone, 51. Actor-comedian Michaela Watkins, 49. Actor-comedian Miranda Hart, 48. Rhythm-and-blues singer Brian Dalyrimple (Soul For Real), 45. Actor KaDee Strickland, 45. Actor Tammy Blanchard, 44. Actor Sophie Monk, 41. Actorsinger-musician Jackson Rathbone, 36. Actor Vanessa Hudgens, 32. Rock/R&B singer Tori Kelly, 28.

Thought for today: “How the ‘I’ pervades all things!”

— William Ellery Channing, American clergyman (1780-1842)