Today in history

On October 9, 1940, rock- androll legend John Lennon was born in Liverpool, England. ( On this date in 1975, his son, Sean, was born in New York.)

In 1514, Mary Tudor, the 18- year- old sister of Henry VIII, became Queen consort of France upon her marriage to 52- year- old King Louis XII, who died less than three months later.

In 1776, a group of Spanish missionaries settled in present- day San Francisco.

In 1888, the public was first admitted to the Washington Monument.

In 1914, the Belgian city of Antwerp fell to German forces during World War I.

In 1934, King Alexander I of Yugoslavia was assassinated in Marseille, France, by a Macedonian gunman.

In 1946, the Eugene O'Neill drama "The Iceman Cometh" opened at the Martin Beck Theater in New York.

In 1958, Pope Pius XII died at age 82, ending a 19- year papacy. ( He was succeeded by Pope John XXIII.)

In 1967, Latin American guerrilla leader Che Guevara was killed by the Bolivian army a dayafter he was captured.

In 1975, Soviet scientist Andrei Sakharov ( AHN'- dray SAHK'ah- rawf) was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

In 1985, the hijackers of the Achille Lauro ( ah- KEE'- leh LOW'roh) cruise liner surrendered two days after seizing the vessel in the Mediterranean. ( Passenger Leon Klinghoffer was killed by the hijackers during the standoff.)

In 1995, a sabotaged section of track caused an Amtrak train, the Sunset Limited, to derail in Arizona; one person was killed and about 80 were injured ( the case remains unsolved).

In 2009, President Barack Obama was named the recipient of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize for what the Norwegian Nobel Committee called "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."

“I think everyone should go to college and get a degree and then spend six months as a bartender and six months as a cabdriver. Then they would really be educated.” — Al McGuire, American Basketball Hall of Fame coach ( 1928- 2001).