On this date in history:

In 1789, New Jersey became the first state to ratify the Bill of Rights.

In 1910, the Plan de San Luis Potosi was issued by Francisco I. Madero calling for the overthrow of the Mexican government led by Porfirio Diaz. This marked the beginning of the 10-year Mexican Revolution.

In 1945, 24 German leaders went on trial at Nuremberg before the International War Crimes Tribunal.

In 1947, Princess Elizabeth, the future Queen Elizabeth II of England, married Philip Mountbatten.

In 1969, the Occupation of Alcatraz began as Native American activists seized control of the island prison. It took 19-months to remove the activists from the rock.

In 1975, Generalissimo Francisco Franco of Spain died.

In 1986, the World Health Organization announced a coordinated global effort against AIDS. WHO said there were 34,448 reported cases of AIDS worldwide.

In 1992, fire erupted at Windsor Castle, Queen Elizabeth's official residence west of London, causing much damage. The queen and Prince Andrew helped save priceless artworks and other valuables kept in the castle.

In 1998, Zarya, the first module that would make up the International Space Station, is launched from Kazakhstan.

In 2002, on the eve of a NATO summit, U.S. President George W. Bush called for a coalition of the willing to help the United States disarm Iraq if necessary.

In 2007, Ian Smith, the former Rhodesian prime minister who led his South African white-minority government through a violence-wracked era until the end of white rule in 1979, died at 88 after a long illness.

In 2009, Hamid Karzai was sworn in to begin his second five-year term as president of Afghanistan, vowing his army would have full control of the country's security by the time he left office. (A security agreement in 2014, the year Karzai left office, allowed 9,800 American and at least 2,000 NATO troops to remain in Afghanistan, mostly on training duties, after the international combat mission ends on Dec. 31.)

In 2012, Church of England elders, in a close vote, decided not to allow women to become bishops. The issue, hotly debated in the Anglican Church, cannot come up for a vote again until 2015.

In 2014, President Barack Obama took executive action to grant temporary legal status to millions of undocumented immigrants. His order created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans programs.

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