1991 First discovery of a planet outside our solar system.

1984 First woman to walk in space Soviet cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya.

1976 Face on Mars Viking I takes the famous "Face on Mars" photo.

1974 U.S. Legal Services Corp is established, provides financial aid to programs providing legal assistance to qualified clients.

1973 Watergate Pres. Nixon refuses to release the tapes to the Watergate Special Prosecutor as ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court.

1968 Birth control Pope Paul VI issues an encyclical banning all forms of artificial contraception. It stated that the "direct interruption of the generative process already begun" is unlawful and that abortion, even for therapeutic reasons, is absolutely forbidden, as is sterilization.

1965 Dylan Goes Electric Bob Dylan, renowned for his acoustic folk music, plugs in at the Newport Folk Festival.  The audience responds with loud booing.  Folk music legend Pete Seeger said at the time, "if I had an axe, I'd cut the cable right now."

1959 Hovercraft First Crossing of the English Channel by a Manned Hovercraft. The seven-ton SR.N1 developed by John Cockerell crosses from Calais to Dover.

1956 Sinking of the Andrea Doria Italian liner Andrea Doria collides with the Swedish liner Stockholm shortly before midnight, sinking 12 hours later. 52 of the more 1,600 people aboard killed. One of its lifeboats was found on a New York beach in 1981.

1946 Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis The legendary comedy duo makes their official debut together. Their act at the Atlantic City's 500 Club consisted or Martin trying to sing with Lewis constantly interrupting him.

1944 First jet-fighter used in combat A German jet fires at a British plane, which manages to escape.

1943 Benito Mussolini is deposed and imprisoned by the Italian people. He was rescued in September by the Germans.

1909 First airplane flight across the English Channel by Louis Bleriot.

1978 Louise Joy Brown British, the world's first test-tube baby.

1957 Ray Billingsley cartoonist, creator of Curtis.

1956 RogerClinton, Jr American relative, half-brother of President Clinton.

1951 Verdine White American singer, with Earth, Wind & Fire. Music: Shining Star (1975, #1, Grammy), Best of My Love (1977, #1), and After the Love has Gone (1979, #2, Grammy).

1924 Estelle Getty American actress. TV: The Golden Girls (Sophia).

1907 Jack Gilford d. 1990 (Jacob Gellman), American actor. TV: The Crackerjack commercials of the late 1960s and Taxi (Alex's father).

1894 Walter Brennan d. 1974 American Oscar-winning actor. TV: The Real McCoys (Amos McCoy). He was the first actor to win three Oscars (1936, 38, 40).

1884 Davidson Black d. 1934 Canadian anthropologist. He discovered the race Homo erectus (1927) when he identified a single hominid tooth as the "Peking Man."

1750 Henry Knox d. 1806 American Revolutionary War hero. He established the U.S. Military Academy at West Point (1779) and was the first U.S. Secretary of War (1785-94).

2003 John Schlesinger b. 1926 English Oscar-winning director. Film: Midnight Cowboy (1969, Oscar), Marathon Man (1976), and Pacific Heights (1990).

1982 Hal Foster b. 1892 (Harold Rudolf Foster), cartoonist, creator of Prince Valiant and artist for Tarzan.

1934 Francois Coty b. 1874 French perfume maker and newspaper publisher.

1865 James Barry b. 1795 British surgeon, served in the British armed forces, the first woman doctor of the British Isles, although it wasn't discovered that she was a woman until after her death.

1843 Charles Macintosh b. 1766 Scottish chemist, invented waterproof fabrics used for raincoats (1823).

1842 Dominique-Jean Larrey b. 1766 French surgeon in Napoleon's army. He initiated the use of field hospitals (the forerunner of MASH units), army ambulance corps, and triages. He also published the first description of trench foot.

1564 Ferdinand b. 1503 Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (1558-64).

1492 Innocent VIII b. 1432 Italian religious leader, 213th Pope (1484-92).

<< Previous | Today | Pick a Day | My Birthday | Surprise Me | Next >>

Celebritize Yourself
Add YOURSELF
or Someone You Love
to THIS Trivia List

Amaze Your Friends with
Your/Their Celebrity Status

Add Trivia to Your Website