Today in History 10/13

54: Nero ascends to the Roman throne
1307: Hundreds of Knights Templar in France are simultaneously arrested by agents of Phillip the Fair, to be later tortured into "admitting" heresy.
1773: The Whirlpool Galaxy is discovered by Charles Messier
1775: The United States Continental Congress orders the establishment of the Continental Navy (later renamed the United States Navy).
1792: In Washington, D.C., the cornerstone of the White House is laid.
1853: Lillie Langtry is born.1884: Greenwich established as universal time meridian of longitude.
1892: Edward Emerson Barnard discovers D/1892 T1 (Barnard 3), the first comet discovered by photographic means, on the night of October 13-14.
1909: Herbert Block, aka Herblock, is born. He was a political cartoonist who coined the term "McCarthyism."1917: The "Miracle of the Sun" is witnessed by an estimated 70,000 people in the Cova da Iria in Fátima, Portugal.
1925: Lenny Bruce is born.

1925: Margaret Thatcher is born.1941: Paul Simon, of Simon & Garfunkel, is born.

1943: The new government of Italy sides with the Allies and declares war on Germany.
1947: Sammy Hagar is born. I was playing the "Bad Song Game" recently with some friends of about my age and one much, much older friend and he e-mails us the lyrics to "I Can't Drive 55." And all of us youngsters were like, "But that's an awesome song!" He could only shake his head at the kids today.

1956: Chris Carter, creator of The X-Files is born.1959: Marie Osmond is born. Here's the Donnie & Marie Star Wars Special. The sound is really out of synch in this clip.

1960: Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Bill Mazeroski becomes the first person to end a World Series with a home run, as the Pirates beat the New York Yankees, four games to three.

Today in History elements mostly cribbed from The History Channel, Wikipedia, The New York Times, The Jewish World Review, The Writer's Almanac and anything else I can dig up.