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On this date in history:

In 1704, the Boston News Letter became the first American
newspaper to be published on a regular basis.

In 1800, Congress established the Library of Congress.

In 1877, federal troops moved out of New Orleans, ending
the North's military occupation of the South following the
Civil War.

In 1981, IBM introduced its first personal computer.

In 1986, the Duchess of Windsor, Wallis Warfield Simpson,
for whom England's King Edward VIII gave up his throne,
died in Paris at age 89.

In 1987, genetically altered bacteria, designed to prevent
frost damage, were sprayed on a California strawberry field
in the first test of such biotechnology in nature.

In 1991, the first U.N. peacekeeping forces were deployed
along the Kuwait-Iraq border.

Also in 1991, Freddie Stowers, a World War I corporal, was
posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor to become the first
African-American to receive the highest medal for valor in
combat.

In 1993, an IRA bomb blast rocked London's financial
district, injuring at least 35 people.

In 1995, the "UNAbomber" struck again: a mail bomb killed
Gilbert Murray, president of the California Forestry
Association, in Sacramento.

In 1996, President Bill Clinton signed into law a bill to
fight terrorism.

Also in 1996, the Palestinian National Council voted to drop
its official commitment to the destruction of Israel.

In 1997, opening statements began in Denver in the federal
court trial of suspected Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.

Also in 1997, with ratification by the U.S. Senate, the
United States became the 75th country to approve the Chemical
Weapons Convention.

In 1998, after threats from President Boris Yeltsin and two
negative votes, the Russian parliament approved Yeltsin's
nomination of Sergei Kiriyenko as the nation's premier.

In 2003, North Korea announced it had nuclear weapons and
had begun making bomb-grade plutonium.

In 2004, Greek Cypriot voters overwhelmingly rejected a U.N.
plan for the reunification of the divided Mediterranean island.

In 2005, Benedict XVI was officially installed in Rome as
the 265th pope, promising to continue John Paul's policies.