Today in History.....December 30

On this day in …

* 1853, the United States bought some 45-thousand square miles of land from Mexico in a deal known as the Gadsden Purchase

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

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

* 1944, King George the Second of Greece proclaimed a regency to rule his country, virtually renouncing the throne

* 1972, the United States halted its heavy bombing of North Vietnam

* 1995, a US military policeman, Martin John Begosh, became the first American injured in NATO’s fledgling Bosnia peace mission when his Humvee hit an anti-tank mine

* 1993, the Vatican decided it was finally time to recognize Israel