On this date in...

1984...Bishop John J. O'Connor of Pennsylvania is chosen to head the New York Archdiocese, succeeding the late Terrence Cardinal Cooke.

1994...Gerry Adams, leader of the IRA's Sinn Fein party, is allowed into New York to attend a peace conference after repeatedly being denied a visa.

1995...Legendary Broadway director George Abbott dies at age 106.