This day in history

Population:

Ashland: 20,600

U.S. population: 306,468,415

Sunrise and sunset:

7:19 a.m.

6:37 p.m.

Local weather:

Ashland high: 73° F

Ashland low: 37° F

The nation's weather extremes:

High: 96° at Inverness, Fla.

Low: -11 at Utica, Mont.

The day's Dow Jones close:

9,864.94

Your dollar's worth

Loaf of bread: $2.49

Gallon of milk: $3.85

Gallon of gasoline: $3.08

First-class stamp: $0.44

New car: $21,750.00

Average new home: $336,000.00

Other interesting people born on this date:

1956 - Martina Navratilova - Women's professional tennis star who proved her domination of the game with 18 major championships including nine Wimbledon titles.

1924 - James Clavell - American author of popular, epic novels set in Asia including "Shogun", "Noble House", "King Rat", and others.

1813 - Giuseppe Verdi - The leading Italian composer of the 19th Century highly regarded for his operas "La Traviata", "Rigoletto", and others.

1770 - Benjamin Wright - American engineer who built the Erie Canal and who is considered to be the "Father of American Engineering."

Other notable events
on this day in history:

1978 - President Jimmy Carter signed legislation authorizing minting of the Susan B. Anthony dollar.

1920 - Cleveland Indians second baseman William Wambsganss proved he belonged in the World Series when he completed the first ever unassisted triple play in a Series.

1913 - The waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans came together in the Panama Canal for the first time when crews removed the Gamboa Dam.

1845 - The U.S. Naval Academy welcomed the first 56 cadets through its doors at Windmill Point in Annapolis, Maryland.