Today is Wednesday, Dec. 30, the 365th day of 2020. There is one day left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Dec. 30, 1903, about 600 people died when fire broke out at the recently opened Iroquois Theater in Chicago.

On this date:

In 1813, British troops burned Buffalo, New York, during the War of 1812.

In 1853, the United States and Mexico signed a treaty under which the U.S. agreed to buy some 45,000 square miles of land from Mexico for $10 million in a deal known as the Gadsden Purchase.

In 1860, 10 days after South Carolina seceded from the Union, the state militia seized the United States Arsenal in Charleston.

In 1922, Vladimir Lenin proclaimed the establishment of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which lasted nearly seven decades before dissolving in December 1991.

In 1936, the United Auto Workers union staged its first “sit-down” strike at the General Motors Fisher Body Plant No. 1 in Flint, Michigan. (The strike lasted until Feb. 11, 1937.)

In 2004, a fire broke out during a rock concert at a nightclub in Buenos Aires, Argentina, killing 194 people. Bandleader and clarinetist Artie Shaw died in Thousand Oaks, California, at age 94.

In 2006, a state funeral service was held in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda for former President Gerald R. Ford.

In 2009, seven CIA employees and a Jordanian intelligence officer were killed by a suicide bomber at a U.S. base in Khost (hohst), Afghanistan.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Russ Tamblyn is 86. Baseball Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax is 85. Folk singer Noel Paul Stookey is 83. TV director James Burrows is 80. Actor Fred Ward is 78. Singer-musician Michael Nesmith is 78. Singer Patti Smith is 74. Rock singer-musician Jeff Lynne is 73. TV personality Meredith Vieira is 67. Actor Sheryl Lee Ralph is 65. Country singer Suzy Bogguss is 64. Actor-comedian Tracey Ullman is 61. Radio-TV commentator Sean Hannity is 59. Sprinter Ben Johnson is 59. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is 57. Golfer Tiger Woods is 45. TV personality-boxer Laila Ali is 43.