1994 Anna Nicole Smith The 26 year-old topless dancer/playmate marries 89-year-old billionaire J. Howard Marshall. He died a little more than a year later, leading to an extended legal battle over his estate.

1992 Dave beats Dan Reebok's advertising campaign comes to a halt when Dan O'Brien fails to make the Olympic track team. Dave Johnson went on without him.

1991 Thurgood Marshall The first black U.S. Supreme Court justice announces his resignation.

1990 Hubble Space Telescope NASA announces that the $1.5 billion telescope intended to view farther into space than any telescope on Earth, has a flawed lens which greatly reduces it capabilities.

1979 First black woman judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals Amalya Lyle Kearse is sworn in at the U.S. Court of Appeals, New York City.

1979 Affirmative Action U.S. Supreme Court rules that private businesses can give special preference to minorities and women.

1978 First erasable-ink pen The Eraser Mate is patented.

1973 James Bond Live and Let Die: The 8th film in the James Bond series premiers in the U.S. It starred Roger Moore as 007.

1966 Dark Shadows This unusual - it featured vampires and ghosts - daytime soap opera debuts on ABC.

1954 First nuclear power plant The Soviet Union begins operating a 5,000-Kilowatt plant in Obninsk.

1950 Korean War - First U.S. combat mission involving gunfire An American pilot shoots down a North Korean fighter.

1949 TV's first interplanetary hero Captain Video and His Video Rangers debuts on DuMont, starring Richard Coogan as the Captain.

1934 Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation Agency to insure investors up to $5,000 (later increased to $10,000) is created.

1929 First U.S. public demonstration of color TV Bell Laboratories demonstrates their low-definition mechanically-scanned TV system.

1950 Julia Duffy American actress. TV: Newhart (Stephanie).

1946 Sally Jane Priesand American clergywoman. She was the first woman Rabbi (1972). Source: An Almanac of the Christian Church

1930 H. Ross Perot American billionaire. He gave George Bush a run for his money in 1992.

1927 Bob Keeshan d. 2004 American Emmy-winning actor. TV: Howdy Doody (Clarabell the Clown) and Captain Kangaroo (title role). Quote: If you want more time in your life, don't watch TV.

1888 Antoinette Perry d. 1946 American actress, director, for whom "Tony Awards" are named. She served as director of the wartime board of the American Theater Wing.

1880 Helen Keller d. 1968 American author, lecturer. She overcame being both blind and deaf since the age of 19 months.

1859 Mildred J. Hill d. 1915 American schoolteacher. She composed Happy Birthday to You (1893). Originally called Good Morning to All, the lyrics - written by her sister - were changed in 1924 to the now familiar words. It has become the most sung song in the world.

1550 Charles IX d. 1574 King of France (1560-74). Responsible for the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre (1572) in which thousands of Huguenots were killed.

1462 Louis XII d. 1515 King of France (1498-1515).

1996 Albert Broccoli b. 1909 American movie producer of the James Bond movies.

1992 Sandy Amoros b. 1930 (Edmundo Isasi Amoros), Cuban-born baseball player. He made one of the greatest catches of World Series history (1955).

1984 Oswald Jacoby b. 1902 American actuary, bridge expert, author of numerous books on card playing.

1952 Elmo Lincoln b. 1889 (Otto Elmo Linkenhelt), American actor. Film: Tarzan of the Apes (1918, making him the first Tarzan of film). He was afraid of heights and had to have a double do the scenes in trees.

1946 Wanda Gag b. 1893 American author, artist. She is known for her translation and illustration of Grimm's Fairy Tales.

1876 Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg b. 1795 German biologist,  founder of micropaleontology - the study of fossil microorganisms.

1861 James Harmon Ward b. 1806 Union Naval officer, first Naval officer killed in the Civil War. He was shot by a Confederate sharpshooter while aiming a cannon at Mathias Point, Virginia.

1844 Joseph Smith b. 1805 American mormon prophet, received a set of gold plates from an Angel (1827). Using a pair of magic glasses he translated these into the Book of Mormon. While running for office, he and his brother were killed by a mob, making him the first U.S. presidential candidate to be assassinated. Source: An Almanac of the Christian Church

1829 James Smithson b. 1765 English scientist. His will funded the creation of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., even though he had never been to America.

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