Today in History - History - October 12th

1833Charles Darwin begins return trip to Buenos Aires

1986Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visit the People's Republic of China

1973Nixon nominates Gerald Ford to replace Spiro Agnew as VP

1978Sid Vicious charged with murder of girlfriend Nancy Spungen

1999Pat LaFontaine formally retires from the NHL due to lingering concussion problems

1966Jimi Hendrix Experience forms with Jimi Hendrix, Noel Redding & Mitch Mitchell

1960Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev bangs his shoe on his desk at UN General Assembly session

2008Anna Kournikova and Andy Roddick defeat Martina Navratilova and Jesse Levine in a match for charity, raising over $400,000 for the Elton John AIDS Foundation and Atlanta AIDS Partnership Fund

1901Theodore Roosevelt renames "Executive Mansion," "The White House"

1984IRA bombs hotel where British PM Margaret Thatcher is staying, 5 die

1968Hugh Jackman, Australian actor and singer (X-men, Real Steel)

1975Marion Jones, Los Angeles, California, track and field athlete/drug cheat (5 forfeited Olympic medals)

1942Jazz musician Louis Armstrong (41) weds dancer Lucille Wilson (28)

1980Oscar-winning actor Dustin Hoffman (43) weds businesswoman Lisa Gottsegen (26) in Roxbury, Connecticut

1893Education pioneer Booker T. Washington (37) weds Margaret James Murray

1991Steven Spielberg weds Kate Capshaw

1929US military leader George Marshall (48) weds Katherine Tupper

1822"The Hunchback of Notre Dame" author Victor Hugo (20) weds Adele Fourcher

1997John Denver, American country music star (Country Boy), dies in a plane crash at 53

1999Wilt Chamberlain, American basketball player, dies of congestive heart failure at 63

1845Elizabeth Fry, British social reformer and philanthropist (b. 1780)

1870Robert E. Lee, US General of Confederate Army, dies at 63