On this date in history:

In 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, better known as William the Conqueror, led his invading army to victory over England's King Harold at Hastings.

In 1912, former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, campaigning for a return to office, was shot in Milwaukee. He refused to have the wound treated until he finished his speech.

In 1926, A.A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh was published.

In 1944, British and Greek troops liberated Athens, ending three years of World War II occupation by German forces.

In 1947, U.S. Air Force Capt. Chuck Yeager, 24, flying a Bell X-1, became the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound.

In 1964, U.S. civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., 35, became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

In 1977, Bing Crosby, one of the most popular singers of his day and winner of the Best Actor Academy Award for his role in Going My Way, died of a heart attack while playing golf in Madrid. He was 74.

In 1992, the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Oakland A's, 4 games to 2, to win the American League pennant and become the first Canadian team to go to the World Series.

In 1994, the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier by Palestinian extremists ended with the soldier and four others being killed in a shootout. The same day, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded jointly to two Israelis, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

In 2008, the Canadian Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, retained power by defeating the Liberal Party in the national elections.

In 2012, Arlen Specter, who served five consecutive terms in the U.S. Senate, died at his home in Philadelphia. Specter, 82, a longtime Republican after beginning his political career as a Democrat, switched back to the Democratic Party in 2009.

In 2013, a court in Malaysia ruled that non-Muslims may not use Allah to refer to God.

Copyright 2014 by United Press International