Feast Day of St. George patron saint of England, is said to have saved the king's daughter from a mighty dragon.

1992 Princess Anne is granted an uncontested divorce from Mark Phillips.

1985 New Coke Coca-Cola announces it is changing its 99-year-old formula, introducing what was to become known as "New Coke."  Less than three months later, due to public outcry and poor sales, they brought back the old formula under the name "Coca-Cola Classic."

1962 First U.S. Satellite to reach the surface of the Moon   Ranger IV is launched,  reaching the Moon's surface three days later.

1954 Hank Aaron hits his first major-league home run.

1950 First NBA championship The Minneapolis Lakers defeat the Syracuse Nationals four games to two. The championship had started on the 8th.

1896 First public showing of Edison's motion picture projector The Vitascope is demonstrated at New York's Koster & Bial's Music Hall.

1861 Civil War Robert E. Lee takes command of the Virginia forces.

1789 First Roman Catholic newspaper in the U.S., Courrier de Boston, publishes its first issue. Source: An Almanac of the Christian Church

1960 Valerie Bertinelli American actress. TV: One Day at a Time (Barbara).

1959 Dan Frischman American Actor, known for playing nerds and geeks.  Has worked as magician/ventriloquist "The Great Houdanny" since his teens.  TV: Head of the Class (1986-91, Arvid) and Kenan & Kel (1996-2000, Chris).  Writings: Jackson & Jenks, Master Magicians.

1957 Travis Walton American logger. Claimed he was abducted from a group of Arizona loggers and held for five days by aliens aboard a UFO (1975). His story won a National Enquirer prize of $5,000 and provided the basis for the movie Fire in the Sky (1993).

1949 Joyce DeWitt American actress. TV: Three's Company (Janet).

1943 Herve Villechaize d. 1993 3-foot, 10-inch tall French actor. TV: Fantasy Island (Tatoo, with his famous opening "Boss, da plane, da plane").

1942 Sandra Dee (Alexandra Zuck), American teen actress. Film: The Reluctant Debutante (1958) and Gidget (1959).

1940 Lee Majors (Harvey Lee Yearly, 2nd), American actor. TV: The Six Million Dollar Man and The Fall Guy.

1939 David Birney American actor. TV: Serpico (title role) and St. Elsewhere (Dr. Ben Samuels).

1936 Roy Orbison d. 1988 American singer. Music: Oh, Pretty Woman (1964, #1).

1932 James Fuller Fixx d. 1984 American author, The Complete Book of Running (1977) which launched a running craze. He died of a heart attack while jogging.  He also published three collections of puzzles: Games for the Super-Intelligent, More Games for the Super-Intelligent and Solve It!.

1928 Shirley Temple American child actress, U.S. Ambassador to Ghana (1974-76) and Ambassador to Czechoslovakia (1989-). She became the youngest person to earn over a $1,000,000. Film: Stand Up and Cheer (1934), Curly Top (1935), and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938).

1921 Warren Spahn winningest left-handed pitcher, with 363 wins.

1858 Max Planck d. 1947 German Nobel-winning physicist, discovered quantum physics (1900). His son was among those executed for the July 1944 attempt to assassinate Hitler.

1813 Stephen Arnold Douglas d. 1861 American statesman, Lincoln debater. He was called "The Little Giant."

1791 James Buchanan d. 1868 15th U.S. President (1857-61). The only bachelor U.S. president.

1731 William Williams d. 1811 American patriot, signer of the Declaration of Independence.  He died on the 35th anniversary of his signing the Declaration of Independence on August 2, 1776.

1564 William Shakespeare d. 1616 English author, The Taming of a Shrew, Romeo and Juliet (1597), and Hamlet.

1995 Howard Cosell b. 1920 (Howard Cohen), American Emmy-winning sports commentator.

1993 César Chávez b. 1927 Mexican-American labor leader, activist, founder of the National Farm Workers Association.

1986 Harold Arlen b. 1905 (Hyman Arluck), American Oscar-winning composer. Music: Stormy Weather (1943), It's Only a Paper Moon (1932), That Old Black Magic (1942), and Over the Rainbow (1939, Oscar).

1983 Buster Crabbe b. 1908 (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.

1965 George Adamski b. 1891 Polish-American extraterrestrial abductee. Some regard him as the first modern abductee.

1951 Charles Gates Dawes b. 1865 30th U.S. Vice-President (1925-29).

1616 William Shakespeare b. 1564 English author, The Taming of a Shrew, Romeo and Juliet (1597), and Hamlet.

1616 Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra b. 1547 Spanish author. Writings: Don Quixote (1605).

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