1988 China Beach debuts on ABC.

1986 Chernobyl disaster The worst accident in the history of nuclear energy; it killed 31 people and spewed radioactive material over the Soviet Union and Europe.

1962 First international satellite Ariel 1 is launched. It was built and launched by NASA to perform British experiments.

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

1957 First Air Force Academy woman officer Naomi M. McCracken begins duties at the Air Force Academy temporary headquarters in Denver, Colorado.

1954 Polio Nationwide testing of the Salk anti-polio vaccine begins.

1862 First American Hanged for Treason Against the U.S William Bruce Mumford, a New Orleans gambler, removes the Union flag that had been raised by Union troops at the New Orleans Mint. For this, he was convicted and hanged for treason.

1791 The Cherokee Indians cede most of their land to the U.S. with the Treaty of Holston.

1985 Alan, Bret, Connor, Douglas, and Edward Jacobssen world's first test-tube quintuplets.

1962 Michael Damian American singer, actor. Music: Rock On (#1). TV: The Young and the Restless (Danny Romalotti).

1960 Roger Taylor English singer, with Duran Duran. Music: Hungry Like the Wolf (1982), Rio (1982), Union of the Snake (1983), and A View to a Kill (1985).

1942 Claudine Auger French actress, Miss France (1958). Film: Thunderball (Domino Derval).

1933 Carol Burnett American Emmy-winning comedienne. TV: The Carol Burnett Show.

1933 Arno Allan Penzias German-American astrophysicist. He and Robert Woodrow Wilson shared the Nobel Prize for Physics (1978) for their discovery of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (1964) which was predicted by the big-bang theory.

1900 David Mathias Dennison d. 1976 American theoretical physicist. He discovered the spin of the proton.

1900 Charles Francis Richter d. 1985 American seismologist. He invented the Richter Scale (1935) for measuring earthquakes.

1894 Rudolf Hess d. 1987 German politician, Hitler's private secretary. In 1941, he embarked on a solo peace mission to Scotland - without Hitler's permission. He was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment.

1893 Anita Loos d. 1981 American author, playwright. Writings: Gentleman Prefer Blondes (1925) and But Gentleman Marry Brunettes (1928).

1886 William Levi Dawson d. 1970 American politician. He was the first black U.S. representative to chair a Congressional committee (1949, Committee on Expenditures in Executive Departments).

1822 Frederick Law Olmsted d. 1903 American landscape architect. He designed New York's Central Park and the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.

1813 Edward Maynard d. 1891 American dentist. He was the first to recognize dental fever (1836) and the first to use gold fillings (1838).

1785 John James Audubon d. 1851 American ornithologist and wildlife artist. He was elected (1900) to the Hall of Fame for Great Americans.

1989 Lucille Ball b. 1911 American comedienne. TV: I Love Lucy and The Lucy Show.

1988 Frederick Douglass Patterson b. 1901 American educator, Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, President of the Tuskegee Institute (1935-53), and founder of the United Negro College Fund (1944).

1986 Broderick Crawford b. 1911 American Oscar-winning actor. Film: All The King's Men (1949, Oscar). TV: Highway Patrol (Dan Matthews).

1984 Count Basie b. 1904 (William Basie), American jazz pianist, bandleader. Music: One O'Clock Jump, Swingin' the Blues, and Tickle Toe.

1981 Jim Davis b. 1915 American actor. TV: Dallas (Jock Ewing).

1973 Irene Ryan b. 1903 American actress. TV: The Beverly Hillbillies (Granny).

1970 Gypsy Rose Lee b. 1914 (Rose Louise Hovick), American actress, "The Queen of Burlesque," and the best-known stripper of the 1930s.

1915 John Bunny b. 1863 American actor, comedian, the first comic star of the American screen (1910). This 300-pound actor made over 200 comic shorts during his brief five-year film career.

1865 John Wilkes Booth b. 1838 American Shakespearean actor. He assassinated Pres. Lincoln at Ford's Theater (1865). He was reportedly shot and killed in Garrett's Barn in Virginia.

1865 Charles Joseph Sax b. 1791 Belgian instrument maker. He invented the "omnitonic horn" (1824), which used a piston to provide different keys. He was the father of saxophone inventer Adolphe Sax.

1731 Daniel Defoe b. circa 1659 English author. Writings: Robinson Crusoe (1719) and Moll Flanders (1722). He died broke and in hiding from his debtors.

1558 Jean François Fernel b. circa 1497 French physician. He coined the terms "physiology" and "pathology." He was the first to describe appendicitis and the spinal canal. He also worked to end the reliance on astrology and magic in matters of health.

757 Stephen II b. ???? Italian religious leader, 92nd Pope (752-757).

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