1984 The Moon reaches its farthest distance from the Earth for this century (252,718 miles).

1982 Busing The U.S. Senate votes to end busing for the purpose of racial integration.

1962 Wilt Chamberlain scores a record 100 points for the Philadelphia Warriors against the New York Knicks.

1951 First NBA All-Star game East beats West (111-94).

1949 First non-stop around-the-world flight Capt. James Gallagher and crew complete their flight which had begun on February 27.

1899 First U.S. admiral Congress creates the position of Admiral of the Navy. George Dewey was appointed to the position the following day.

1888 First bank for and operated by blacks is chartered in Virginia.

1861 Territories of Nevada and Dakota are established by Congress.

1836 Texas declares it independence from Mexico.

1750 Lightning Rods Ben Franklin proposes the use of lightning rods to protect houses in a letter to his colleague Peter Collinson.

1717 First Ballet John Weaver's The Loves of Mars and Venus is staged at Drury Lane, England.

1962 Jon Bon Jovi (John Bongiovi), American singer. Music: Livin' on a Prayer (1986, #1), Bad Medicine (1988, #1), and Blaze of Glory (1990).

1956 John Cowsill American drummer, member of the singing family The Cowsills (They were the basis for TV's The Partridge Family). Music: The Rain The Park And Other Things (1967, #2).

1955 Jay Osmond American drummer. Music: One Bad Apple (1971, #1) and Go Away Little Girl (1971, #1).

1952 Laraine Newman American comedienne. TV: Saturday Night Live.

1950 Karen Ann Carpenter d. 1983 American singer with the Carpenters. She died of a heart attack induced by anorexia nervosa. Music: We've Only Just Begun (1970, #2) and Rainy Days and Mondays (1971, #2).

1944 Lou Reed (Louis Firbank), American singer. Music: Walk On The Wild Side (1973).

1931 Mikhail Gorbachev Russian politician, Communist Party Leader (1985-91).

1917 Desi Arnaz d. 1986 (Desiderio Arnaz III), Cuban-born band leader, actor. TV: I Love Lucy (Ricky Ricardo).

1904 Dr. Seuss d. 1991 (Theodor Seuss Geisel), American Pulitzer-winning children's author.  His first children's book And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street (1937) was rejected by more than two dozen publishers.  Books: The Cat in the Hat (1957), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1957), and Green Eggs and Ham (1960).  He won a 1946 Oscar for his documentary Hitler Lives.

1897 Max Lincoln Schuster d. 1970 Austrian-born American publisher, co-founder of the publishing house of Simon and Schuster (1924). Their first book was the world's first crossword puzzle book.

1876 Pius XII d. 1958 (Eugenio Maria Giovanni Pacelli), Italian religious leader, 260th Pope (1939-58), was elected pope on his 63rd birthday. In 1952 he declared TV a threat to family life, and proclaimed (1950) the dogma of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.

1860 Susanna Madora Salter d. 1961 first U.S. woman mayor (1887, Argonia, Kansas). Nominated as a prank, she didn't find out she was running until the morning of the election. She received two-thirds of the vote.

1810 Leo XIII d. 1903 Italian religious leader, 256th Pope (1878-1903).

1793 Sam Houston d. 1863 American soldier, politician, governor of Tennessee (1827-29) and first president of the Republic of Texas (1836).

1459 Adrian VI d. 1523 Dutch-born religious leader, 218th Pope (1522-23), the only Dutch pope.

1993 Carlos Marcello b. 1910 (Calogero Minacori), New Orleans and Gulf Coast mafia boss.

1987 Randolph Scott b. 1898 (Randolph Crane), American actor. Film: Seven Men from Now (1956), The Tall T (1957), and Ride the High Country (1962).

1982 Philip K b. 1928

1939 Howard Carter b. 1873 English Egyptologist, discovered King Tutankhamen (1922).

1930 D.H. Lawrence b. 1885 (David Herbert Lawrence), English novelist. Writings: The Rainbow (1915) and Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928).

1840 Wilhelm Olbers b. 1758 German astronomer, discovered two asteroids, several comets, a method of determining their orbits, and Olbers' Paradox: "If the stars are distributed evenly through infinite space, why is the night sky dark?"

1791 John Wesley b. 1703 English clergyman, founder of Methodism. He believed in salvation through faith. Source: An Almanac of the Christian Church

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