2004 Iraq War Cindy Sheehan's son Casey Sheehan is killed by enemy action. Cindy would go on to become a peace activist, camping out at President Bush's Crawford ranch.

2003 500 Club Sammy Sosa hits his 500th home run.

1993 Mario Andretti age 53, becomes the oldest person to win an Indy-car race, by winning the Valvoline 200. This also made him the first driver to win in four different decades.

1987 The Revised New Testament of the American Bible is authorized for use by Roman Catholics.

1983 First launch of the second space shuttle Challenger.

1976 Mike Conners stars in the TV movie The Killer Who Wouldn't Die as Kirk Ohanian. His real name is Krekor Ohanian.

1974 Hank Aaron The baseball legend hits his 714th home run, tying Babe Ruth's record. He hit number 715 four days later.

1973 The World Trade Center is dedicated. At 1,350 feet and 110 stories, it was the world's tallest building.

1964 The Beatles take the top five positions on the Billboard list.

1958 Nuclear weapons Soviet Premier Khrushchev asks the U.S. and Great Britain to follow the Soviet Union in banning nuclear weapons testing.

1958 Lana Turner While the movie star's gangster boyfriend was beating her in her Beverly Hills bedroom, her 14-year-old daughter rushed in and fatally stabbed him with a carving knife.

1949 NATO The treaty is signed by twelve nations creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

1887 First Woman U.S. Mayor Susanna Madora Salter is elected by Argonia, Kansas.

1841 First U.S. President to die in office William Henry Harrison dies of pneumonia.

1818 American Flag Flag of 13 stripes representing the original states and a star for each state of the Union is adopted.

1973 David Blaine American magician. Known for his close-up street magic, levitations, and life-threatening endurance stunts.

1965 Robert Downey Jr American comedian. TV: Saturday Night Live.

1946 Craig T. Nelson American actor. TV: Coach (Hayden Fox) and The District (Chief Jack Mannion). Film: Flesh Gordon (1974, The Monster), Poltergeist (1982), and The Incredibles (2004, Mr. Incredible).

1932 Anthony Perkins d. 1992 American actor. Film: Psycho (1960, Norman Bates).

1928 Maya Angelou (Marguerite Ann Johnson), African-American poet, civil rights activist. Writings: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969).

1925 Elizabeth Wilson American Tony-winning actress. Stage: Sticks and Bones (1972, Tony). Film: The Addams Family (1991, Abigail).

1916 Mickey Owen d. 2005 (Arnold Malcolm Owen), American baseball catcher. He hit the first pinch-hit home run in an All-Star game (1942). He dropped a third strike in the 1941 World Series that allowed the Yankees to win the game and go on to beat the Dodgers in the series. Ironically, that same season he had set the record for most errorless chances by a catcher with 508 perfect attempts.

1915 Muddy Waters d. 1983 (McKinley Morganfield), American blues musician, "The Father of Chicago Blues."

1906 John Cameron Swayze d. 1995 American actor, TV personality, and Timex pitchman ("Takes a licking and keeps on ticking.").

1906 Bea Benaderet d. 1968 American actress, voice of Betty Ruble on The Flintstones, Blanche Morton of The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, and Shady Rest Hotel owner Kate Bradley of Petticoat Junction.

1895 Arthur Murray d. 1991 (Moses Teichman), American ballroom dance instructor.

1830 Eadweard James Muybridge d. 1904 (Edward James Muggeridge), English-born pioneer in motion photography. His photographic studies of animal motion laid the foundation for modern motion pictures.

1802 Dorothea Lynde Dix d. 1887 American philanthropist and prison reformer. She also helped establish over 30 hospitals for the mentally ill.

1792 Thaddeus Stevens d. 1868 American political leader. He introduced the 14th Amendment and the Reconstruction Act of Feb. 6, 1867.

2004 Casey Austin Sheehan b. 1979 American soldier. His death by enemy action in Iraq caused his mother, Cindy Sheehan, to become a peace activist.

1993 Alfred Mosher Butts b. 1899 American architect, inventor of the game Scrabble (1932).

1983 Gloria Swanson b. 1899 (Gloria Svensson), American actress, sex symbol of the 1920s. Film: Sunset Boulevard (1950).

1979 Edgar Buchanan b. 1903 American actor. TV: Petticoat Junction (Uncle Joe) and Green Acres (Uncle Joe).

1968 Martin Luther King Jr b. 1929 American Nobel Peace Prize-winning civil-rights leader. He was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee by escaped convict James Earl Ray.

1958 Johnny Stompanato, Jr b. 1925 American murder victim. While fighting with his movie star girlfriend, Lana Turner, Turner's 14-year-old daughter rushed in and fatally stabbed him with a carving knife.

1919 Francisco Marto b. 1908   He was one of the three children who claim to have seen the Virgin Mary near Fátima, Portugal (1917).

1912 Isaac Kauffman Funk b. 1839 American publisher, co-founder of Funk & Wagnalls Company (1891), which first published its famous dictionary in 1912.

1883 Peter Cooper b. 1791 American inventor. He built the first US steam locomotive (1830, the Tom Thumb) and also invented a washing machine which was powered by the tides.

1841 William Henry Harrison b. 1773 9th U.S. President (Mar. 4 - Apr. 4, 1841). He died of pneumonia 31 days after taking office, making him the first U.S. president to die in office.

1831 Isaiah Thomas b. 1749 American printer. He published the first U.S. novel written by an American (1789, The Power of Sympathy).

1774 Oliver Goldsmith b. 1728 Irish poet, author. Writings: The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), The Deserted Village (1770), and She Stoops to Conquer (1773, one of the greatest comedies in English literature).

1292 Nicholas V b. ???? religious leader, 191st Pope (1288-92).

1284 Alfonso X b. 1221 called "Alfonso the Wise," King of León and Castile (1252-82).

896 Formosus b. ???? religious leader, 111th Pope (891-896).

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