1971 Vice-Pres. Spiro Agnew hits three spectators with a golf balls during the Bob Hope Desert Classic.

1960 The French explode their first atomic bomb They become the fourth atomic power by exploding a plutonium fission device.

1935 Lindbergh kidnapping Bruno Hauptmann is found guilty of the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh's 20-month-old son, for which he was later executed.

1920 Negro National League The first successful Negro baseball league is formed by a group of team owners at a Kansas City YMCA.  It existed until 1931.  Source: The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues. See NLBPA

1917 World War I Mata Hari is captured in France. She was sentenced to death as a German spy. During her execution she refused a blind fold and blew a kiss to her firing squad.

1861 First action to earn a U.S. Medal of Honor Col. B.J.D. Irwin leads his troops against the Apache Indians in Arizona, for which he was honored in 1894.

1741 First magazine published in America the American Magazine, published by Andrew Bradford and edited by John Webbe.

1635 First public school in American opens, the Boston Latin School.

1977 Randy Moss American football wide-receiver.  Quote: "It was a once-in-a-lifetime catch that only happens every so often." Source: Page-A-Day Calendar

1950 Peter Gabriel English rock singer. Music: Shock the Monkey (1982). He co-founded and starred with Genesis (1967-75).

1944 Stockard Channing (Susan Stockard), American actress. Film: The Fortune (1975) and Grease (1978).

1944 Peter Tork (Peter Torkelson), American singer, actor, one of "The Monkees." Music: Last Train to Clarksville (1966) and I'm a Believer (1966).

1938 Oliver Reed English actor. Film: The Three Musketeers (1974, Athos).

1934 George Segal American actor. Film: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966, Oscar nomination).

1933 Kim Novak (Marilyn Pauline Novak), American actress. Film: Vertigo (1958).

1923 Chuck Yeager American pilot, first person to break the sound barrier during level flight (1947).

1919 Tennessee Ernie Ford d. 1991 (Ernest Jennings Ford), American Grammy-winning country singer. Music: Ballad of Davy Crockett (1955) and Sixteen Tons (1955, #1).

1918 Patty Berg golfer, won the first U.S. Women's Open golf championship (1946), founder and first president of The Ladies Professional Golf Assn. (1951).

1918 Bud Blake (Julian W. Blake), American cartoonist, created Tiger.

1892 Grant Wood d. 1942 American artist, American Gothic.

1885 Bess Truman d. 1982 American first lady, wife of Pres. Harry S. Truman.

1599 Alexander VII d. 1667 Italian religious leader, 237th Pope (1655-67).

2005 Sister Lucy dos Santos b. 1907 (Lúcia de Jesus Rosa Santos), Roman Catholic Carmelite nun. She claims that at the age of ten she saw and was spoken to by the Virgin Mary near Fátima, Portugal (1917).

2005 Dick Weber b. 1929 American bowler, 4-time All-Star Tournament winner (1962-63, 65-66), 3-time Bowler of the Year (1961, 63, 65).

2002 Waylon Jennings b. 1937 American Grammy-winning Country Music Hall of Fame singer. He was supposed to be on the plane that crashed and killed Buddy Holly, but had given his seat to J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson. He had jokingly commented to Holly before the flight, "I hope your darn ole plane crashes." Music: Turn the Page (1985) Mammas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys, and the theme song for TV's The Dukes of Hazzard (he also narrated the show).

1982 Zeng Jinlian b. 1964 Chinese giant, world's tallest woman (8 ft. 1 3/4 in.). Source: Guinness Book of World Records

1980 David Janssen b. 1930 (David Harold Meyer), American actor. TV: The Fugitive (Dr. Richard Kimble). He won the 1930 Sears, Roebuck title of Prettiest Baby.

1891 David Dixon Porter b. 1813 American admiral. In 1856 he became the first person to import camels in the U.S. for commercial purposes.

1883 Richard Wagner b. 1813 German opera composer, the Ring cycle (1876).

1818 George Rogers Clark b. 1752 military leader of the American Revolution.

1130 Honorius II b. ???? religious leader, 163rd Pope (1124-30).

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