In 1558, Elizabeth I acceded to the English throne upon the death of her half-sister, Queen Mary, beginning a 44-year reign.

In 1869, the Suez Canal opened in Egypt.

In 1889, the Union Pacific Railroad Co. began direct, daily railroad service between Chicago and Portland, Oregon, as well as Chicago and San Francisco.

In 1917, French sculptor Auguste Rodin died in Meudon at age 77.

In 1925, actor Rock Hudson was born Roy Harold Scherer Jr. in Winnetka, Illinois.

In 1934, Lyndon Baines Johnson married Claudia Alta Taylor, better known as Lady Bird, in San Antonio, Texas.

In 1947, President Harry S. Truman, in an address to a special session of Congress, called for emergency aid to Austria, Italy and France. (The aid was approved the following month.)

In 1968, NBC outraged football fans by cutting away from the closing minutes of a New York Jets- Oakland Raiders game to begin the TV special “Heidi” on schedule. (After being taken off the air, the Raiders came from behind to beat the Jets, 43-32.)

In 1973, President Richard Nixon told Associated Press managing editors in Orlando, Florida: “People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I’m not a crook.”

In 1979, Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini ordered the release of 13 black and/or female American hostages being held at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

In 1987, a federal jury in Denver convicted two white supremacists of civil rights violations in the 1984 slaying of radio talk show host Alan Berg. (Both men later died in prison.)

In 1991, the first national TV commercial for condoms (Trojan) aired during an episode of the Fox situation comedy “Herman’s Head.”

Ten years ago: Cast into the minority in midterm elections, House Republicans chose John Boehner of Ohio to lead them. Ivan J. Hill was convicted in Los Angeles of being the “60 Freeway Slayer” of six women (Hill was later sentenced to death). The FDA ended a 14-year virtual ban on silicone gel breast implants. College football coaching legend Bo Schembechler died in Southfield, Michigan, at age 77. Grammy- and Tonywinning singer Ruth Brown died in Henderson, Nevada, at age 78.

Five years ago: Occupy Wall Street protesters clogged streets and tied up traffic around the U.S. to mark two months since the movement’s birth and signal they weren’t ready to quit, despite the breakup of many of their encampments by police. Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers won the NL Cy Young Award. Baseball owners unanimously approved the sale of the Houston Astros from Drayton McLane to Jim Crane, which would lead to the team moving from the NL Central to the AL West for the 2013 season. Demi Moore said she was ending her 6- year marriage to Ashton Kutcher.

The Associated Press