2002 Elizabeth Smart The Utah child is kidnapped.  She would not be rescued until March the following year.

1994 Youngest female pilot to cross the Atlantic 12-year-old Vicki Van Meter takes off from Maine, following Amelia Earhart's historic route. She arrived in Scotland two days later.

1994 Youngest college graduate 10-year-old Michael Kearney receives his bachelor's degree in anthropology from the University of South Alabama.

1993 First woman jockey to win a Triple Crown race Julie Krone riding Colonial Affair in the Belmont Stakes.

1981 Beginning of the AIDS Epidemic A report is issued concerning an unexplained outbreak, among homosexual men, of a type of pneumonia which usually affects only cancer patients.

1977 Apple II Computer At a cost of $1298, it was one of the first microcomputers sold fully assembled.

1976 Lightning Strikes Roy C. Sullivan struck by lightning for the 6th of of his record-breaking 7 times.  Source: Guinness Book of World Records

1968 Senator Robert F. Kennedy is shot by Sirhan Bishara Sirhan. He died the following day.

1967 Six-Day War begins when Israeli jets attack and destroy most of Egypt's, Jordan's, and Syria's air forces.

1963 First black U.S. Air Force Academy graduates Charles Vernon Bush, Isaac Sanders Payne, IV and Roger Bernard Sims.

1952 First black referee for a heavyweight boxing championship Zack Clayton officiates Jersey Joe Walcott's win over Ezzard Charles in Philadelphia to retain his title. Source: Famous First Facts

1949 Ten Most Wanted Thomas James Holden kills his wife and her two brothers. After fleeing across state lines, he became the first person listed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list when it was first published the following year.

1933 Gold standard is dropped Pres. F.D. Roosevelt signs a bill making it illegal to require payments in gold or any other particular currency. Source: Famous First Facts

1893 Lizzie Borden The trial begins for the murder of her parents, who were axed to death. She was acquitted 15 days later.

1855 First Jewish hospital in America Mount Sinai Hospital in New York accepts its first patients.

1851 Uncle Tom's Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe, begins appearing in serial form in a Washington D.C. anti-slavery newspaper. The book was published the following year, becoming the first American novel to sell 1,000,000 copies.

1783 First man-made object to achieve sustained flight Brothers Joseph and Jacques Montgolfier launch an unmanned 33-foot-diameter hot-air balloon in France for a 10-minute, 6,000-foot flight.

1752 Benjamin Franklin flying his kite, identifies lightning as electricity.

1974 Chad Allen American actor. TV: St. Elsewhere (the autistic child Tommy).

1956 Kenny G (Kenneth Bruce Gorelick), American Grammy-winning saxophonist.  He is the highest-selling instrumental musician of the modern era.  He holds the Guinness Record for holding the longest saxophone note - 45 minutes and 47 seconds (1997).  Music: Duotones (1986) and Breathless (1992, The #1 selling instrumental album of all time).

1934 Bill Moyers American Emmy-winning journalist. TV: A Walk Through the 20th Century.

1932 Christy Brown d. 1981 Irish author, artist, cerebral palsy victim. The movie My Left Foot was based on his 1954 autobiography - which he typed using the little toe of his left foot.

1929 Robert Lansing d. 1994 (Robert Brown), American actor. TV: Twelve O'Clock High (Gen. Savage) and The Equalizer (Control).

1925 Bill Hayes American singer, actor. Music: The Ballad of Davy Crockett (1955). TV: Days of Our Lives (Doug Williams).

1919 Richard Scarry d. 1994 American children's author, creator of Lowly Worm. His 250 books sold over 100 million copies in over 30 languages. Writings: Best Word Book Ever (1965) and Cars and Trucks and Things That Go (1974).

1898 William Boyd d. 1972 American actor. He played Hopalong Cassidy in the movies and television.

1878 Pancho Villa d. 1923 (José Doroteo Arango Arámbula), Mexican revolutionary.  He raided Texas and New Mexico, and led revolutions against Mexico.

1850 Pat Garrett d. 1908 American sheriff, shot and killed Billy the Kid (1881).

1819 John Couch Adams d. 1892 English astronomer, in 1845 he correctly predicted the existence of the planet Neptune, which was discovered the following year.

1723 Adam Smith d. 1790 British moral philosopher, political economist, author of Wealth of Nations (1776), the first systematic formulation of classical English economics.

2004 Ronald Wilson Reagan b. 1911 American politician, actor, 40th U.S. President (1981-89). Film: Knute Rockne - All American (1940, the Gipper).

1999 Mel Tormé b. 1925 (Melvin Howard Tormé), American singer, actor. "The Velvet Fog." He co-wrote Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire (1946). Music: Careless Love (1949, #1). TV: Night Court (Judge Stone's favorite).

1993 Conway Twitty b. 1933 (Harold Lloyd Jenkins), American Grammy-winning country singer. Music: After The Fire is Gone (1971, Grammy). In 1982 he opened Twitty City, a nine-acre tourist attraction outside of Nashville.

1992 Max Lerner b. 1902 Russian-born journalist, educator.

1991 Min Chueh Chang b. 1908 Chinese-born American biologist, co-inventor of the birth control pill.

1910 O. Henry b. 1862 (William Sydney Porter), American short story author. He served three years in prison for embezzling bank funds.

1900 Stephen Crane b. 1871 American author. Writings: Red Badge of Courage (1895).

1316 Louis X b. 1289 "The Quarreller," King of France (1314-16).

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