2002 Axis of Evil: Pres. George W. Bush first uses the term during a State of the Union address to describe North Korea, Iran, and Iraq.

1992 Gays in the military Pres. Clinton partially lifts the ban on gays in the military, stating he will eventually lift the ban altogether.

1987 The Communist Party Central Committee endorses Gorbachev's proposals of economic and social reform, including allowing more than one candidate to run for a party office.

1979 Patty Hearst is given clemency by Pres. Carter after serving 22 months of a seven-year prison sentence for bank robbery. She was released three days later.

1979 I Don't Like Mondays 16-year-old Brenda Spencer opens fire on children in an elementary school playground. She killed two adults and injured eight children and a police officer. She claimed she did it because she didn't like Mondays. The Boomtown Rats hit I Don't Like Mondays (1980) was based on this event.

1936 Baseball Hall of Fame Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson become the first inductees. Source: Famous First Facts

1929 First guide dog school in the U.S. Morris Frank, himself blind, founds The Seeing Eye in Nashville, Tennessee.

1900 Baseball The American League is formed: It consisted of eight baseball teams.

1861 Kansas becomes the 34th state. Kansas is Sioux for "south wind people."

1845 The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe is first published, in the New York Evening Mirror, instantly making him famous.

1956 La Toya Jackson American singer.

1954 Oprah Winfrey American talk show hostess. She won the title of Miss Black Tennessee.

1951 Ann Jillian American singer, dancer, actress. TV: It's A Living (Cassie) and The Ann Jillian Story (1988, which chronicled her real-life battle with breast cancer).

1945 Tom Selleck American actor. TV: Magnum P.I. (Thomas Magnum). He appeared twice on The Dating Game, but was never chosen.

1943 Katherine Ross American actress. Film: The Graduate (1967) and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). TV: The Colbys (Francesca).

1923 Paddy Chayefsky d. 1981 (Sidney Chayefsky), American Oscar-winning screenwriter. Film: Paint Your Wagon (1969), Network (1976, Oscar), and Altered States (1979).

1918 John Forsythe (John Freund), American actor. TV: Charlie's Angels (voice of Charlie) and Dynasty (Blake Carrington).

1913 Victor Mature d. 1999 American actor, starring in many Biblical epics. He was billed as "A beautiful hunk of man." Film: One Million B.C. (1940, Tumak the caveman),  Samson and Delilah (1949, Samson) and After the Fox. Quote: "Actually, I am a golfer. That is my real occupation. I never was an actor; ask anybody, particularly the critics." (1966).

1901 Allen Balcom Du Mont d. 1965 American inventor. He developed the first commercially practical cathode ray tube, marketed the first home TV receiver (1939), and established the Du Mont TV network (1946).

1880 W.C. Fields d. 1946 (William Claude Dukenfield), American actor. Film: You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939) and My Little Chickadee (1940). Quote: "A thing worth having is a thing worth cheating for" and " 'Twas a woman who drove me to drink. I never had the courtesy to thank her."

1843 William McKinley d. 1901 25th U.S. President (1897-1901). He was assassinated by Leon Czolgosz. His portrait graces the U.S. $500 bill.

1737 Thomas Paine d. 1809 American patriot, wrote Common Sense (1776) and The Age of Reason (1795).

2002 Harold Russell b. 1914 Canadian-born American actor. He was the first visibly handicapped person to appear in a major motion picture; he lost both hands in World War II. He won an Oscar for The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) which he sold in 1992, making him the first person to openly sell their own Oscar.  He needed the money for his wife's medical expenses.

1980 Jimmy Durante b. 1893 American comedian. His trademark lines include "Ink-a-Dink-a-Doo" and "Goodnight Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are."

1977 Freddie Prinze b. 1954 American actor. TV: Chico and the Man (Chico).

1963 Robert Frost b. 1874 American Pulitzer-winning poet. Writings: A Boy's Will and North of Boston.

1956 H.L. Mencken b. 1880 (Henry Louis Mencken), American newspaperman, critic for the Baltimore Sun.

1906 Christian IX b. 1818 King of Denmark (1863-1906).

1820 George III b. 1738 King of Great Britain and Ireland (1760-1820) during the American Revolution. He became insane in 1811 leaving the Prince of Wales (George IV) to run the government.

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