1985 Pres. Reagan undergoes surgery to remove a cancerous polyp from his colon.

1985 Live Aid The concerts, held in Philadelphia and London, attract 1.5 billion TV viewers and raise $70,000,000 to aid the hungry.

1977 New York City Blackout Lightning strikes send millions of NYC residents into darkness.  4,500 people were arrested and $61 million of damage occurred in the ensuing riots.

1963 Baseball Early Wynn pitches his 300th baseball victory.

1957 Elvis Presley has his first British #1 hit, All Shook Up.

1943 Baseball - First All-Star game played at night The AL deafeats the NL 5-3 at Shibe Park.

1923 Hollywood Sign The famous Los Angeles landmark is officially dedicated. It originally read "Hollywoodland."

1919 First lighter-than-air transatlantic flight Major George H. Scott arrives in Mineola, New York. He had started from Firth of Fourth, Scotland on July 2.

1863 Civil War - Draft Riots 50,000 people attack New York City's draft office.  About 100 people are killed during the next four days of violence, blacks being the target of most of the violence on civilians.

1832 Mississippi River The source of the great river is discovered, by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft.

1787 First Federal Law Prohibiting Slavery in a U.S. Territory The Northwest Ordinance is enacted. The banning of slavery in the territory had the effect of establishing the Ohio River as the boundary between free and slave territory in the region between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River. It also established the precedent that the United States would expand westward by admitting new states, rather than by  expanding existing states.

2305 Jean-Luc Picard fictional captain of the USS-Enterprise D and E in TV and film.

1954 Louise Mandrell American country singer. Music: Put It On Me (1978) and Everlasting Love (1979).

1946 Richard "Cheech" Marin American Grammy-winning comedian, of Cheech and Chong. Film: Up in Smoke (1978) and Born in East L.A. (1987). He was the first Celebrity Jeopardy! champion (1992). His father was 30-year veteran of the LAPD.

1944 Dr. Erno Rubik Hungarian inventor, creator of the Rubik's Cube, which has 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 possible combinations. It is the world's best-selling puzzle.

1942 Stephen Jo Bladd American drummer, with J. Geils Band. Music: Must Have Got Lost (1974), Freeze-Frame (1981), and Centerfold (1981, #1).

1942 Roger McGuinn (James Joseph McGuinn), American guitarist, singer, with The Byrds. Music: Mr. Tambourine Man (1965, #1) and Turn! Turn! Turn! (1966).

1942 Harrison Ford American actor. Film: Star Wars (1977, Han Solo), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981, Indiana Jones), and Blade Runner (1982).

1941 Robert Forster American actor. TV: Miles Banyon (title role).

1940 Patrick Stewart English actor. TV: Star Trek: The Next Generation (Capt. Jean-Luc Picard).

1935 Jack Kemp American politician, former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

1928 Bob Crane d. 1978 American actor. TV: Hogan's Heroes (Col. Robert Hogan).

1886 Edward Joseph Flanagan d. 1948 Irish-born American Roman Catholic monsignor, founder of Boys Town (1917). His motto was "There is no such thing as a bad boy."

1821 Nathan Bedford Forrest d. 1877 American Confederate cavalry commander. He is considered the greatest cavalry commander in American history. He also founded the Ku Klux Klan during the reconstruction period after the Civil War.

1729 John Parker d. 1775 American farmer, soldier. He led the minutemen at Lexington during the Battle of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, the first battle of the Revolution. Tradition reports he ordered "Stand your ground. Don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here."

1590 Clement X d. 1676 Italian religious leader, 239th Pope (1670-76).

1527 John Dee d. 1608 English mathematician, astrologer, was astrologer to the queen (1551) and was the first to use Crystal Balls for fortune telling (1580).

2006 Red Buttons b. 1919 (Aaron Chwatt), American Oscar-winning actor. Film: Sayonara (1957, Oscar).

2005 Mickey Owen b. 1916 (Arnold Malcolm Owen), American baseball catcher. He hit the first pinch-hit home run in an All-Star game (1942). He dropped a third strike in the 1941 World Series that allowed the Yankees to win the game and go on to beat the Dodgers in the series. Ironically, that same season he had set the record for most errorless chances by a catcher with 508 perfect attempts.

1993 Davey Allison b. 1961 (David Carl Allison), American race car driver, NASCAR 1987 Rookie of the Year. He died from injuries received from a crash while trying to land his newly-purchased helicopter at Talladega Superspeedway.

1958 Claire Straith b. 1891 American cosmetic surgery, safety pioneer. After witnessing the injuries and disfigurements of his patients from automobile crashes, he promoted the use of padded dashes, recessed dash knobs, and seat belts. With the notable exceptions of Chrysler and Tucker, most manufactures rejected his suggestions, opting for style over safety.

1921 Gabriel Lippmann b. 1845 French Nobel-winning physicist. He received the Nobel Prize (1908) for producing the first color photographic plates.

1890 Major General John Charles Fremont b. 1813 American mapmaker, explored the Western U.S., and was the first Republican candidate for U.S. president (1856). He was court-martialed and convicted of mutiny by the U.S. Army (1847-48).

1794 James Lind b. 1716 Scottish physician. His recommendation of eating fresh citrus fruits eliminated scurvy in the British Navy. Before then, scurvy killed more British sailors than combat.

1785 Stephen Hopkins b. 1707 American politician, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and three-time governor of Rhode Island (1755-68).

939 Leo VII b. ???? Italian religious leader, 126th Pope (936-939).

574 John III b. ???? Italian religious leader, 61st Pope (561-574).

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