1986 Alf debuts on NBC.

1982 The Reader's Digest Bible The condensed version, only 60% the size of the original, is published.

1982 Family Ties debuts on NBC. This is Pres. Reagan's favorite show.

1980 Toxic Shock Syndrome The Rely Tampon is recalled by Proctor & Gamble after studies showed it increased the risk of toxic shock syndrome.

1975 Presidential assassination attempt Sarah Jane Moore is apprehended by an ex-marine bystander who deflected her gun as she fired at Pres. Ford.

1964 Fiddler on the Roof The hit play opens on Broadway.  It became the first Broadway musical to run for more than 3,000 performances and went on to win nine Tony awards.  It also starred Beatrice Arthur (Yente the matchmaker), who later starred in TV's Maude and Golden Girls.

1961 Bus Segregation The Interstate Commerce Commission orders the end to segregation on interstate buses.  This was largely due to the efforts of the Freedom Riders, who challenged bus segregation by riding as racially-mixed groups.

1927 Battle of the Long Count During the world heavyweight boxing championship, Gene Tunney is canvassed in the 7th round by Jack Dempsey, but the count was delayed when Dempsey wouldn't move to a neutral corner. Tunney rose at the count of eight and went on to win by a decision.

1914 First submarine to sink an enemy ship at sea The German U-9 sinks the HMS Aboukir. A short while later it sank the HMS Hogue and HMS Cressy.

1893 First U.S.-built gas-powered automobile The Duryea brothers of Springfield take their automobile for a test drive.

1827 Mormons Joseph Smith is given a set of gold plates by an Angel. Using a pair of magic glasses, he translated these into the Book of Mormon. Source: An Almanac of the Christian Church

1789 U.S. Post Office The post office is established by congress.

1692 Salem Witch Trials The last eight of the 20 people executed for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts are hanged. Source: An Almanac of the Christian Church

1961 Scott Baio American actor. TV: Happy Days (Chachi) and Charles in Charge (title role).

1960 Joan Jett American singer. Music: I Love Rock 'n' Roll (1982, #1).

1956 Debby Boone American singer.

1954 Shari Belafonte American actress. TV: Hotel (Julie Gillette).

1927 Tommy Lasorda American baseball pitcher, manager. Quote: Talking about your troubles is no good. Eighty percent of your friends don't care and the rest are glad. Source: Fifth 637 Best Things Anybody Ever Said

1912 Martha Scott d. 2003 American actress. Film: Our Town (1940), The Ten Commandments (1956, Moses' mother), and Ben-Hur (1959, Ben-Hur's mother). TV: The Bob Newhart Show (Bob's mother), Dallas (Sue Ellen's mother), The Six Million Dollar Man (Steve Austin's mother).

1904 Allan "Rocky" Lane d. 1973 (Harold Albershart), American western actor. TV: Mr. Ed (voice of Mr. Ed).

1902 John Houseman d. 1988 (Jacques Haussmann), American Oscar-winning actor. Film: The Paper Chase (1973, Oscar). TV: He proclaimed in commercials "They make money the old-fashioned way; They earn it."

1885 Erich Von Stroheim d. 1957 (Erich Oswald Stroheim), German-born actor, director. He was billed as "The Man You Love to Hate."

1791 Michael Faraday d. 1867 English scientist. He discovered electromagnetic induction (1831), the magnetism of light (1845), the compound bencene, and developed the first dynamo.

2007 Marcel Marceau b. 1923 (Marcel Mangel), Emmy-winning French mime.  Renowned in the art of silence, his most famous quote is, "".  He changed his name to Marceau to hide his Jewish roots during WWII and served in the French underground helping children escape to Switzerland.  Film: Barbarella (1968, Professor Ping) and Silent Movie (1976, in which he had the ONLY spoken line).

2003 Gordon Jump b. 1932 American actor. TV: WKRP In Cincinnati (Mr. Carlson) and the Maytag repairman of the commercials (1989-2003).

1999 George C. Scott b. 1927 American Oscar-Emmy-winning actor. Film: Dr. Stangelove (1964) and Patton (1970, Oscar, which he refused making him the first actor to do so).

1996 Dorothy Lamour b. 1914 (Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton), American actress. Film: The Jungle Princess (1936, as Ulah) and star of numerous Hope-Crosby road films.

1989 Irving Berlin b. 1888 (Israel Bayline), songwriter. Music: God Bless America, and White Christmas. Recordings of White Christmas have sold over 100,000,000 copies.

1987 Dan Rowan b. 1922 American comedian. TV: Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.

1956 Frederick Soddy b. 1877 English chemist, formed the theory of isotopes and won the 1921 Nobel Prize for chemistry.

1776 Nathan Hale b. 1755 American revolution officer. While being hanged by the British as a spy he proclaimed "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."

1774 Clement XIV b. 1705 Italian religious leader, 249th Pope (1769-74). He was pressured into issuing a brief abolishing the Jesuits (1773).

530 Saint Felix IV b. ???? religious leader, 54th Pope (526-530).

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