TODAY IN HISTORY

1849

Author Edgar Allan Poe died in Baltimore at age 40.

1910

A major wildfire devastated the northern Minnesota towns of Spooner and Baudette, charring at least 300,000acres; some 40 people are believed to have died.

1949

The Republic of East Germany was formed.

1998

Matthew Shepard, a gay college student, was beaten and left tied to a wooden fencepost outside of Laramie, Wyoming; he died five days later.

2001

The war in Afghanistan started as the United States and Britain launched air attacks against military targets and Osama bin Laden’s training camps in the wake of the September 11 attacks.

2003

California voters recalled Gov. Gray Davis and elected Arnold Schwarzenegger their new governor.

Birthdays

Retired South African Archbishop and Nobel Peace laureate Desmond Tutu is 90. Former National Security Council aide Lt. Col. Oliver North (ret.) is 78. Singer John Mellencamp is 70. Recording executive and TV personality Simon Cowell is 62. R&B singer Toni Braxton is 54. Actor Omar Miller is 43. MLB player Evan Longoria is 36. Actor Lulu Wilson is 16.