Today in History....December 28

* 1612, Galileo Galilei becomes the first astronomer to observe the planet Neptune, although he mistakenly catalogued it as a fixed star

* 1832, John C. Calhoun becomes the first Vice President of the United States to resign

* 1835, Osceola leads his Seminole warriors in Florida into the Second Seminole War against the U.S. Army

* 1836, Spain recognizes the independence of Mexico

* 1867, United States claims Midway Island, first territory annexed outside Continental limits

* 1869, William E. Semple of Mount Vernon, Ohio patents chewing gum

* 1895, the Lumière brothers have their first paying audience at the Grand Cafe in Boulevard des Capucines marking the debut of the cinema

* 1902, the first indoor professional American football game is played in New York City at Madison Square Garden

* 1945, the U.S. Congress officially recognizes the Pledge of Allegiance

* 1973, the Endangered Species Act is passed in the United States

* 1981, the first American test-tube baby, Elizabeth Jordan Carr, is born in Norfolk, Virginia

* 2000, U.S. retail giant Montgomery Ward announces it is going out of business after 128 years

* 2005, a U.S. immigration judge orders John Demjanjuk deported to Ukraine for crimes against humanity committed during World War II