2003 Iraq War At an appearance at Aviano Air Base in Italy, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld projected that the Iraq war "could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months."

1994 Dick Tracy Tess Trueheart serves the cartoon detective with divorce papers.

1991 Haiti's first democratically elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is sworn in.

1984 The Bubble Boy (age 12), known publicly only as David, leaves his bubble and is able to kiss his mother for the first time. He had spent most of his life inside the protective bubble due to a severe immune deficiency. He died several weeks later.

1984 First human to fly free of a spacecraft Captain Bruce McCandless aboard the space shuttle Challenger.

1964 The Beatles The group arrives for their first trip to the U.S. and are greeted by screaming mobs at the airport. When asked about the Detroit movement to stamp out the Beatles, they responded, "We're starting a movement to stamp out Detroit." Chet Huntley didn't consider their arrival important enough to show on the NBC evening news.

1935 Monopoly The board game first goes on sale. It is based on streets and properties in Atlantic City.

1898 First woman executed in the electric chair Martha M. Place murders her stepdaughter, for which she was executed the following year.

1882 Last bareknuckle world heavyweight boxing championship John L. Sullivan knocks out Paddy Ryan in the 9th round.

1795 11th Amendment ratified judicial power of the U.S. does not extend to suits against one of the states by citizens of another state.

1778 Daniel Boone is again captured by Indians.  He manages to escape by traveling 160 miles through woods.

1962 Garth Brooks American Grammy-winning country singer, Country Music Association's Male Vocalist of the Year (1991) and one of the best-selling solo artists of all time.  Albums: Garth Brooks (1989), Ropin' the Wind (1991), and Double Live (1998).

1962 David Bryan (David Rashbaum), American keyboardist, with Bon Jovi. Music: Livin' on a Prayer (1986, #1) and Bad Medicine (1988, #1).

1926 Bill Hoest d. 1988 American cartoonist, creator of The Lockhorns (1968), Agatha Crumm (1977), Laugh Parade (1980), Howard Huge (1981), and What a Guy! (1986).

1912 Roy C d. 1983 Sullivan, American park ranger, "Human Lightning Rod."  He was struck by lightning and survived a record seven times.

1908 Buster Crabbe d. 1983 (Clarence Linden Crabbe), American athlete, actor. He won the 1932 Olympic gold medal for the 400-meter-freestyle swim and played Flash Gordon, Buck Roger, and Tarzan in the movies.

1885 Sinclair Lewis d. 1951 American author, first American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature (1930 for Babbitt, 1922).

1870 Alfred Adler d. 1937 Austrian psychiatrist, chief proponent of the "inferiority complex" as the source of psychological problems.

1867 Laura Ingalls Wilder d. 1957 American author. Her Little House books about her life on the frontier was the basis for the TV series.

1837 James Murray d. 1915 Scottish-born lexicographer, chief editor (1879-1915) of the original Oxford English Dictionary, a comprehensive dictionary of the English language, considered to be one of the greatest literary achievements of all time.

1834 Dmitri Mendeléyev d. 1907 Russian chemist. He created the periodic table of elements (1869).

1817 Frederick Douglass d. 1895 American orator and journalist. Born into slavery, he escaped to Great Britain where he raised the money to buy his freedom.

1812 Charles Dickens d. 1870 English author. Writings: Oliver Twist (1837-39), A Christmas Carol (1843), David Copperfield (1849-50), and A Tale of Two Cities (1859).

1804 John Deere d. 1886 American blacksmith, invented the steel plow (1837).

2000 Doug Henning b. 1947 Canadian magician.  He helped to revive the art of magic in the 1970s. He later quit what he now called "fake magic" in order to pursue Transcendental Meditation (TM) in the attempt to learn to levitate.  When diagnosed with liver cancer, he chose to forego traditional medicine in favor of TM. He died five weeks later.

1968 Nick Adams b. 1931 (Nicholas Aloysius Adamshock), American actor. Film: Twilight of Honor (1963, Oscar nomination). TV: The Rebel (Johnny Yuma).

1958 Betty MacDonald b. 1908 American author. Writings: The Egg and I (1945), which was made into the 1947 film featuring Ma and Pa Kettle.

1938 Harvey Samuel Firestone b. 1868 American rubber manufacturer, founded the Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. (1900).

1878 Pius IX b. 1792 Italian religious leader, 255th Pope (1846-78). Proclaimed the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary as dogma (1854), and the infallibility of the Pope (1870).

590 Pelagius II b. ???? Italian religious leader, 63rd Pope (579-590).

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