1994 Civil Rights South Africa holds its first democratic general election in which black citizens could vote.

1992 First woman Speaker of House for the British House of Commons is elected, Betty Boothroyd.

1986 A video pirate overrides an HBO movie broadcast with a message announcing he wasn't going to pay for his cable service.

1971 First black admiral in the U.S. Navy Capt. Samuel L. Gravely, Jr. is selected.

1913 A girl is found murdered in an Atlanta pencil factory. Leo M. Frank was convicted based on the testimony of Jim Conley. In 1915 he was lynched by an anti-Semitic mob after his death sentence was reduced to life in prison. In 1986 his conviction was overturned after evidence surfaced implicating Conley.

1887 First U.S. Appendectomy George Thomas Morton removes the appendix of a 26-year-old patient.

1865 Worst marine disaster in U.S. history A boiler explodes on the steamboat Sultana, near Memphis, killing 1,547 people.

1838 Great fire of Charleston South Carolina.

1810 Beethoven Für Elise is composed.

1959 Sheena Easton (Sheena Shirley Orr), Grammy-winning singer. Music: Morning Train (1981, #1) and For Your Eyes Only (1981).

1951 Ace Frehley American rock musician, the Spaceman of Kiss, Rock And Roll All Nite (1975).

1939 Judy Carne (Joyce Botterill, English actress. TV: Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (the "Sock it to me" girl).

1938 Earl Anthony American bowler, PBA champion (1973, 74, 75), first PBA million dollar winner (1982).

1932 Casey Kasem (Kamal Amin Kasem), American music historian, radio host, voiceover actor.  Radio: The countdown program American Top 40.  TV: Scooby-Do, Where Are You! (voice of Shaggy).  Famous sign off: "Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars."

1932 Anouk Aimee (Francoise Sorya Dreyfus), French actress. Film: A Man and a Woman (1966, Oscar nomination).

1927 Coretta Scott King d. 2006 civil rights activist, wife of Martin Luther King, Jr.

1922 Jack Klugman American actor. TV: The Odd Couple (Oscar Madison).

1900 Walter Lantz d. 1994 American cartoonist, creator of Woody Woodpecker, Andy Panda, and Chilly Willy.

1896 Wallace Hume Carothers d. 1937 American chemist. He invented nylon (1934) while working for the du Pont Company. He also developed neoprene, the first successful synthetic rubber (1931).

1840 Edward Whymper d. 1911 British explorer, first person to climb the Matterhorn (1865). Four of his seven-member team died during the descent.

1822 Ulysses Simpson Grant d. 1885 18th U.S. President (1869-77).

1820 Herbert Spencer d. 1903 English sociologist, philosopher. As an early evolutionist, he developed his theories independently of Darwin. He coined the term "survival of the fittest" (1852), seven years before Darwin's On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection (1859).

1791 Samuel F.B. Morse d. 1872 (Samuel Finley Breese Morse), American inventor of the telegraph and Morse code.

2004 Dr. Roy Walford b. 1924 American physician.  He pioneered the calorie-restricted diet for increasing lifespan.  He discovered that when mice were fed a nutrient-rich calorie-restricted diet, they doubled their lifespan.  He believed that if this were applied to humans they could live to be 120 years old.  He also lived in Biosphere 2 (1991-93), where he served as the crew's physician.  He died of ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) at age 79.  Writings: Beyond the 120-year Diet.

1965 Edward R. Murrow b. 1908 American Emmy-winning journalist. He won four Peabody awards, the Medal of Freedom (1964), and was knighted an honorary commander of the Order of the British Empire (1965).

1965 Alan Bunce b. 1903 American actor. TV: Ethel and Albert (Albert).

1882 Ralph Waldo Emerson b. 1803 American poet, philosopher.

1813 Zebulon Montgomery Pike b. 1779 American general, for whom Pikes Peak is named. He was killed while leading the attack on York (now Toronto), Canada.

1605 Leo XI b. 1535 Italian religious leader, 232nd Pope (Apr. 1605).

1521 Ferdinand Magellan b. circa 1480 explorer, first to undertake a circumnavigation of the globe, died of wounds received in battle with natives of the Philippine Islands before the voyage was completed.

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