This day in history

On this date:

In 1766, Britain repealed the Stamp Act.

In 1837, the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, Grover Cleveland, was born in Caldwell, N.J.

In 1922, Mohandas K. Gandhi was sentenced in India to six years’ imprisonment for civil disobedience. (He was released after serving two years.)

In 1931, Schick Inc. marketed the first electric razor.

In 1937, more than 400 people, mostly children, were killed in a gas explosion at a school in New London, Texas.

In 1940, Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini met at the Brenner Pass, where the Italian dictator agreed to join Germany’s war against France and Britain.

In 1959, President Eisenhower signed the Hawaii statehood bill.

In 1962, France and Algerian rebels agreed to a truce.

In 1974, most of the Arab oil-producing nations ended their embargo against the United States.

In 1995, Spain’s Princess Elena married a banker, Jaime de Marichalar y Saenz de Tejada, in Seville; it was Spain’s first royal wedding in 89 years.

Ten years ago: Rejecting an insanity defense, a jury in Dedham, Mass., convicted John C. Salvi III of murdering two women in a pair of attacks at two Boston-area abortion clinics in December 1994. (Salvi later committed suicide in his prison cell.)

Five years ago: The Socialists conquered Paris in municipal elections, ending a century of nearly unbroken rule by the right. John Phillips, who co-founded the Mamas and the Papas and wrote its biggest hits, including "California Dreamin”’ and "Monday Monday,” died in Los Angeles at age 65.

One year ago: Doctors in Florida, acting on orders of a state judge, removed Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube. (Despite the efforts of congressional Republicans to intervene and repeated court appeals by Schiavo’s parents, the brain-damaged woman died on March 31, 2005, at age 41.) Former Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland was sentenced to a year in prison and four months under house arrest for selling his office in a corruption scandal.

Today’s Birthdays

Actor Peter Graves is 80. Composer John Kander ("Chicago”) is 79. Author John Updike is 74. Nobel peace laureate and former South African president F.W. de Klerk is 70. Country singer Charley Pride is 68. Actor Kevin Dobson is 63. Actor Brad Dourif is 56. Actor Thomas Ian Griffith is 44. Singer James McMurtry is 44. Singer-actress Vanessa L. Williams is 43. Olympic gold medal speedskater Bonnie Blair is 42. Country musician Scott Saunders (Sons of the Desert) is 42. Rock musician Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains) is 40. Rock singer-musician Miki Berenyi is 39. Rapper-actress-talk show host Queen Latifah is 36. Rock musician Stuart Zender is 32. Singer Devin Lima (LFO) is 29. Rock singer Adam Levine (Maroon 5) is 27.<