Today in History

1799

The Rosetta Stone, a key to deciphering ancient Egyptian scripts, was found at Fort Julien in the Nile Delta during the Napoleonic campaign in Egypt.

1834

The Spanish Inquisition was abolished more than 350 years after its creation.

1975

Three American astronauts blasted off aboard an Apollo spaceship hours after two Soviet cosmonauts were launched aboard a Soyuz spacecraft for a mission that included a linkup of the two ships in orbit.

1976

A 36-hour kidnap ordeal began for 26 schoolchildren and their bus driver as they were abducted near Chowchilla, California, by three gunmen and imprisoned in an underground cell. (The captives escaped unharmed; the kidnappers were caught.)

1997

Fashion designer Gianni Versace, 50, was shot dead outside his Miami Beach home; suspected gunman Andrew Phillip Cunanan (koo-NAN’-an), 27, was found dead eight days later, a suicide.

Birthdays

R&B singer Millie Jackson is 80.Author Richard Russo is 75. Arianna Huffington, co-founder of The Huffington Post, is 74. Actor Scott Foley is 52. Actor Brian Austin Green is 51. Singer Buju Banton is 51. Actor Diane Kruger is 48. Actor Travis Fimmel is 45.