TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY IS FRIDAY, DEC. 30, the 365th day of 2016. There is one day left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY:

On this date in 1916, Grigory Rasputin, the so-called Mad Monk who wielded considerable influence with Czar Nicholas II, was killed by a group of Russian noblemen in St. Petersburg.

In 1853, the United States and Mexico signed a treaty under which the U.S. agreed to buy about 45,000 square miles from Mexico for $10 million in a deal known as the Gadsden Purchase.

In 1865, author Rudyard Kipling was born in Bombay, India.

In 1922, Vladimir I. Lenin proclaimed the establishment of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which lasted nearly seven decades before dissolving in Dec. 1991.

In 1936, the United Auto Workers union staged its first “sit-down” strike at the General Motors Fisher Body Plant No. 1 in Flint, Mich. (The strike lasted until Feb. 11, 1937.)

In 1954, Olympic gold medal runner Malvin G. Whitfield became the first black recipient of the James E. Sullivan Award for amateur athletes.

In 1979, Broadway composer Richard Rodgers died in New York at age 77.

In 1994, a gunman walked into two suburban Boston abortion clinics and opened fire, killing two employees. (John C. Salvi III was later convicted of murder; he died in prison, an apparent suicide.)

In 1999, former Beatle George Harrison fought off a knife-wielding intruder who’d broken into his mansion west of London and stabbed him in the chest. (Michael Abram was later acquitted of attempted murder by reason of insanity.)

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS:

Actors Joseph Bologna and Russ Tamblyn are 82. Baseball Hall-of-Famer Sandy Koufax is 81. Actor Fred Ward and singer-musician Michael Nesmith are 74. Singer Patti Smith is 70. Rock singer-musician Jeff Lynne is 69. TV personality Meredith Vieira is 63. Actress Patricia Kalember and country singer Suzy Bogguss are 60. “Today” show co-host Matt Lauer is 59. Actress-comedian Tracey Ullman is 57. Singer Jay Kay (Jamiroquai) and actress Meredith Monroe are 47. Actor Daniel Sunjata is 45. Golfer Tiger Woods is 41. TV personality-boxer Laila Ali and actress Lucy Punch are 39. Actress Kristin Kreuk and folk-rock singer-musician Wesley Schultz (The Lumineers) are 34. NBA player LeBron James and rhythm-and-blues singer Andra Day are 32. Pop-rock singer Ellie Goulding is 30. Pop-rock musician Jamie Follese (Hot Chelle Rae) is 25.

— Associated Press