On this date in history:

In 1512, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, one of Italian artist Michelangelo's most famous works, was exhibited to the public for the first time.

In 1604, William Shakespeare's Othello made its debut.

In 1755, an earthquake in Lisbon, Portugal, killed 60,000 people.

In 1800, U.S. President John Adams and his family moved into the newly built White House after Washington became the U.S. capital.

In 1922, following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey became a republic.

In 1938, Seabiscuit beat War Admiral in horse racing's match of the century.

In 1950, two Puerto Rican nationalists tried to force their way into the Blair House in Washington in an attempt to assassinate U.S. President Harry Truman.

In 1990, McDonald's, under pressure from environmental groups, said it would replace plastic food containers with paper.

In 1991, the Russian Congress of People's Deputies granted Boris Yeltsin sweeping powers to launch and direct radical economic reforms.

In 2008, Maj. Sebastian Morley, the top British Special Forces commander in Afghanistan, resigned to protest what he called lack of proper equipment for combat troops. He blamed chronic underinvestment.

In 2011, a U.N. report said the world's population had topped the 7 billion mark, doubling the total of 1968. The U.N. Population Fund predicted 8 billion people by 2025.

In 2012, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who had said he wouldn't endorse President Barack Obama or Republican challenger Mitt Romney in the presidential race, decided to back Obama. Bloomberg wrote in an op-ed article he changed his mind because of the president's response to the superstorm Sandy disaster.

In 2013, a U.S. drone strike killed Hakimullah Mehsud, leader of the Pakistani Taliban, and four other militants.

Copyright 2014 by United Press International