Flashback

Today is Saturday, Dec. 30, the 364th day of 2006. 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, the British burned Buffalo, N.Y., during the War of 1812.

In 1853, the United States bought some 45,000 square miles of land from Mexico in a deal known as the Gadsden Purchase.

In 1906, British movie director Sir Carol Reed (“The Third Man,” “Our Man in Havana,” “Oliver!”) was born in London.

In 1922, Vladimir I. Lenin proclaimed the establishment of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

In 1936, the United Auto Workers union staged its first “sit-down” strike, at the Fisher Body Plant Number One in Flint, Mich.

In 1940, California’s first freeway, the Arroyo Seco Parkway connecting Los Angeles and Pasadena, was officially opened.

In 1948, the Cole Porter musical “Kiss Me, Kate” opened on Broadway.

In 1956, the New York Giants defeated the Chicago Bears, 47-to-7, to win the NFL Championship Game.

In 1972, the U.S. halted its heavy bombing of North Vietnam.

In 1994, a gunman walked into a pair of suburban Boston abortion clinics and opened fire, killing two employees and wounding five other people (John C. Salvi III was later convicted of murder; he committed suicide in prison).

Ten years ago: About three dozen people were killed when a bomb exploded on an Indian commuter train; a militant group claimed responsibility.

Five years ago: Argentina’s interim president, Adolfo Rodriguez Saa, resigned after seven days in office, complaining that his Peronist party had abandoned him.

One year ago: President Bush, unhappy with Congress for not permanently extending the U.S.A. Patriot Act, signed a bill renewing the anti-terrorism law for a few weeks. It was revealed the Justice Department had opened an investigation into the leak of classified information about President Bush’s secret domestic spying program. Tropical Storm Zeta formed in the eastern Atlantic Ocean; it was the 27th storm of a record-breaking hurricane season.