Today is Monday, December 28, the 362nd day of 2009. There are three days left in the year.
1065 _ Westminister Abbey opens in London
1732 _ First known ad for ``Poor Richard's Almanack" (Pennsylvania Gazette)
1828 _ 6.8 earthquake strikes Echigo, Japan, 30,000 killed
1836 _ Spain recognizes independence of Mexico
1869 _ William Finley Semple of Mount Vernon, Ohio, patents chewing gum
1895 _ World's first movie theater opens in Paris
1950 _ Chinese troops cross 38th Parallel, into South Korea
1968 _ Beatles' ``Beatles-The White Album" goes No. 1 and stays No. 1 for 9 weeks
1972 _ Kim Il-sung, becomes president of North Korea
1973 _ Alexander Solzhenitsyn publishes ``Gulag Archipelago"