On this day, Dec. 30 ... 1922: Vladimir Lenin proclaims the establishment of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which would last nearly seven decades before dissolving in December 1991. Also on this day: 1813: British troops burn Buffalo, N.Y., during the War of 1812. 1853: The United States and Mexico sign a treaty under which the U.S. agrees to buy some 45,000 square miles of land from Mexico for $10 million in a deal known as the Gadsden Purchase. 1916: Grigory Rasputin, the so-called "Mad Monk" who wielded considerable influence with Czar Nicholas II, is killed by a group of Russian noblemen in St. Petersburg. (AP Photo)