TODAY IN HISTORY

1789

North Carolina became the 12th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

1920

The Irish Republican Army killed 12 British intelligence officers and two auxiliary policemen in the Dublin area; British forces responded by raiding a soccer match, killing 14 civilians.

1967

President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Air Quality Act.

1969

The Senate voted down the Supreme Court nomination of Clement F. Haynsworth, 55-45, the first such rejection since 1930.

1973

President Richard Nixon’s attorney, J. Fred Buzhardt, revealed the existence of an 18 1⁄2-minute gap in one of the White House tape recordings related to Watergate.

1979

A mob attacked the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing two Americans.

1980

87 people died in a fire at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nev.