Feast Day of St. Justin Patron saint of philosophers.

1986 U.S. attacks Libya U.S. attempts to assassinate Muammar el-Qaddafi - blaming him for the bombing of a West Berlin disco - killing his infant daughter in the attack. It was later determined that a German woman was responsible for the bombing.

1971 Easing of the trade embargo with China Announced by Pres. Reagan. It had been in effect for 20 years.

1965 In Cold Blood Richard Hickock and Perry Smith are hanged for the 1959 murder of the Clutter family in Kansas. These murders were the basis for Truman Capote's book and the movie In Cold Blood.

1956 First commercial video magnetic tape recorder Ampex Co. demonstrates its device. It used a 2-inch wide tape and sold for $56,000.

1924 First helicopter to achieve forward flight It travelled a distance of 1,181 feet.

1918 WWI Flying Ace Lt. Douglas Campbell downs his first German aircraft. He downed his fifth on May 31st making him the first American flying in an American unit to achieve the status of ace.

1912 Sinking of the Titanic At 11:37 p.m. the four-story "unsinkable" ship - while on her maiden voyage - strikes an iceberg in the North Atlantic. She sank at 2:20 a.m. killing 1,517 of the 2,238 people aboard.

1910 First president to throw the opening ball of the baseball season Howard Taft starts a long-lasting tradition.

1894 First commercial presentation of motion pictures A parlor on Broadway begins showing 10 Edison Kinetoscope films featuring famous celebrities of the time. Viewers paid 25¢ to view five.

1890 Pan American Union Established by the First International Conference of American States held in Washington D.C.

1865 Lincoln The President is shot and mortally wounded in Ford's Theater by John Wilkes Booth.

1865 First U.S. national bank failure The First National Bank of Attica, New York is placed into receivership.

1861 First casualty of the Civil War A Union soldier is killed by an explosion caused by Union soldiers firing a salute to the flag before surrendering Fort Sumter. Source: The Civil War Day by Day

1834 The Whig Party is formed By Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and John C. Calhoun in opposition to Pres. Andrew Jackson.

1828 Webster's dictionary Noah Webster's An American Dictionary of the English Language is published.

1818 U.S. Army Medical Corps is founded Joseph Lovell was appointed Surgeon General.

1813 First private psychiatric hospital in the U.S Founded today by the Religious Society of Friends in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1775 First U.S. abolition society The Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage is founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1968 Anthony Michael Hall American actor. Film: Sixteen Candles (1984), The Breakfast Club (1985). TV: Saturday Night Live.

1949 John Shea American Emmy-winning actor. TV: Baby M (1988, Emmy).

1945 Ritchie Blackmore British guitarist, with Deep Purple. Music: Hush (1968), Kentucky Woman (1969), and Smoke On The Water (1972).

1941 Pete Rose American baseball player, all-time hits leader (4,256), 1973 MVP, and 1975 World Series MVP. He was banned from baseball (1989) and the Hall of Fame (1991) for gambling on baseball and in 1990 was imprisoned for tax evasion.

1941 Julie Christie British Oscar-winning actress. Film: Darling (1965), McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971), and Shampoo (1975).

1938 Dr. Gloria Dean Scott American children's leader. She was the first black president of the Girl Scouts (1975-78).

1935 Loretta Lynn (Loretta Webb), American country singer. Music: Don't Come Home Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind) (1966) and Coal Miner's Daughter (1970).

1930 Bradford Dillman American actor. TV: Falcon Crest (Darryl Clayton).

1925 Rod Steiger d. 2002 American Oscar-winning actor. Film: In the Heat of the Night (1967, Oscar) and The Amityville Horror (1979).

1904 Sir John Gielgud British actor, noted for his Shakespearian roles. Film: Julius Caesar (1953), Becket (1964), and Richard III (1955).

1866 Anne Sullivan d. 1936 American educator, "The Miracle Worker."  In 1887, she became Helen Keller's teacher and companion.  Anne was partially blind as a child, becoming completely blind in 1935.

1629 Christiaan Huygens d. 1695 Dutch scientist. His improvements on telescope lenses enabled him to discover Saturn's rings and 6th moon Titan (1656). He also built the first pendulum clock (1656), published the first book on probability (1657), discovered the polarization of light (1678), and founded the wave theory of light.

1578 Philip III d. 1621 King of Spain (1598-1621). He was weak ruler who spent enormous sums on court festivities.

2007 Don Ho b. 1930 (Donald Tai Loy Ho), Hawaiian singer. Music: Tiny Bubbles (1966, #8). TV: The Don Ho Show (1976-77).

1995 Burl Ives b. 1909 (Burle Icle Ivanhoe), American Oscar-winning actor, singer. Film: Big Country (1958, Oscar) and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958, Big Daddy). TV: The Bold Ones (Walter Nichols). He was jailed in Mona, Utah, for singing Foggy Foggy Dew (An Irish ballad) in public, which authorities deemed a bawdy song.

1986 Simone de Beauvoir b. 1908 French author, feminist. Her book The Second Sex (1949) pioneered post-World War II feminism. She and her lover Jean-Paul Sartre are credited with creating "existentialism."

1964 Rachel Louise Carson b. 1907 American biologist, conservationist. Her 1962 book Silent Spring alerted the nation to the dangers of pesticides.

1932 William John Burns b. 1861 American detective. He preceded Hoover as head of the FBI (1921-24).

1924 Louis Henri Sullivan b. 1856 American architect, creator of the skyscraper.

1917 Dr. Lazarus Ludovic Zamenhof b. 1859 Russian philologist.  He developed of the international language Esperanto (1887).  He also wrote the first grammar of the Yiddish language (1879).

1759 George Frederick Handel b. 1685 German composer. Music: The Messiah (1742). Source: An Almanac of the Christian Church

911 Sergius III b. ???? Italian religious leader, 119th Pope (904-911).

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