2002 Iraq War When asked, "Are there linkages between al Qaeda and Iraq, and where are they?" Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld replied, "The deputy director of Central Intelligence briefed on that subject. I have no desire to go beyond saying the answer is yes."

1993 First person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel twice John David Munday makes the 176-foot drop for the second time; he had also done it in 1985.

1990 Dan Quayle "I support efforts to limit the terms of members of Congress, especially members of the House and members of the Senate."

1990 A new rating NC-17 (No Children), to apply to adult films, is announced by the Motion Picture Association of America.

1990 Cop Rock debuts on ABC, featuring not only singing cops, but singing murderers, crack dealers, and juries.

1983 First non-U.S. yacht to win the America's Cup The Australia II defeats the U.S. yacht Liberty four races to three.

1975 Rocky Horror Picture Show The cult classic, starring Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Tim Curry, and Meat Loaf, premiers in the US.

1969 The last Beatles album Abbey Road is released.

1969 The Brady Bunch debuts on ABC.

1962 The Beverly Hillbillies debuts on CBS. Hated by the critics, it quickly became #1 breaking many records.

1961 U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency is established.

1960 First televised U.S. presidential candidate debate 75 million viewers tuned in to watch Kennedy and Nixon square off. Kennedy's style helped him win the election.

1957 West Side Story by Leonard Berstein opens.

1955 The Adventures of Robin Hood debuts on CBS.

1933 The Pierpont Bunch The group, soon to be John Dillinger's gang, breaks out of prison. Dillinger had bribed authorities and smuggled guns in for them.

1914 The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is established by Congress.

1887 First disc record player is patented, by Emile Berliner.

1789 First chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court is confirmed, John Jay.

1789 First U.S. postmaster general is appointed, Samuel Osgood.

1580 Sir Francis Drake - Circumnavigation of the globe The English navigator arrives in England after completing his voyage. He had begun in December of 1577.

1985 Shamu first killer whale born in captivity to survive. Born at Sea World Orlando, Florida.

1962 Melissa Sue Anderson American Emmy-winning actress. TV: Little House on the Prairie (Mary Ingalls).

1956 Linda Hamilton American actress, Catherine of Beauty and the Beast, and co-star of the Terminator films.

1951 Ronald "Butch" De Feo American murderer.  He was convicted of the 1974 killings of his father, mother, two brothers and two sisters in their home at 112 Ocean Avenue.  This murders were the basis for The Amityville Horror.

1948 Olivia Newton-John British singer, actress. Music: Let Me Be There (1973) and Have You Never Been Mellow (1975). Film: Grease (1978) and Xanadu (1980).

1947 Lynn Anderson American Grammy-winning country singer. Music: I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1971).

1942 Kent McCord American actor. TV: Adam 12 (officer Jim Reed).

1933 Donna Douglas (Dorothy Smith), American actress, Miss New Orleans (1957). TV: The Beverly Hillbillies (1962-71, Elly May), The Twilight Zone (1960, The Eye of the Beholder). Film: Frankie and Johnny (1966, starring opposite Elvis Presley).

1927 Patrick O'Neal American actor of TV and film.

1926 Julie London (Julie Peck), American singer, actress. TV: Emergency (nurse Dixie McCall).

1919 Barbara Britton d. 1980 American actress. TV: Mr. and Mrs. North (Pamela North).

1914 Jack La Lanne (Francois Henri LaLanne), American fitness expert. He invented the jumping jack, designed the first leg extension machines, and pulley machines using cables. TV: The Jack LaLanne Show (1951-85, the first television exercise program).

1898 George Gershwin d. 1937 (Jacob Gershvin), American Pulitzer-winning composer. Music: Rhapsody in Blue (1923) and Of Thee I Sing (1931).

1897 Paul VI d. 1978 (Giovanni Battista Montini), 262nd Pope (1963-78). He was the first pope to fly in an airplane, the first to visit Jesus' birthplace, and the first to visit the U.S.

1888 T.S. Eliot d. 1965 (Thomas Stearns Eliot), American Nobel-winning poet, playwright.

1875 Edmund Gwenn d. 1959 English Oscar-winning actor. Film: Miracle on 34th Street (1947, Oscar as Kris Kringle) and The Trouble with Harry (1955).

1774 Johnny Appleseed d. 1847 (John Chapman), American folk hero who devoted his life to planting apple seeds. It is said that his usual dress consisted of bare feet, a burlap sack for a shirt, and a tin pan hat.

2006 Byron Nelson b. 1912 (John Byron Nelson, Jr.), American golfer. He won a record 11 consecutive tournaments tournaments in 1945. This feat is chronicled in the book Byron Nelson: The Most Remarkable Year in the History of Golf.

2003 Robert Palmer b. 1949 British singer. Music: Addicted To Love (1986).

1994 Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia b. 1907 grandson of Germany's last emperor, third in line to the throne. Worked as a mechanic in a Detroit Ford automobile plant (1929-34) and opposed Hitler and the Nazi Party.

1972 Charles J. Correll b. 1890 American comedian. Radio: Amos 'n' Andy (Andy).

1966 Helen Kane b. 1903 (Helen Schroeder), American actress, singer. Broadway: Good Boy (1929, giving her famous squeaky-voiced "Boop-boop-a-doop" rendition of I Wanna Be Loved by You).

1966 Gus Edson b. 1901 cartoonist, creator of Dondi (1955).

1961 Charles Erwin Wilson b. 1890 American engineer, president of General Motors (1941-53), designed the motor for the first electric automobile starter, and as U.S. Secretary of Defense (1953-57) stated, "…what was good for the country was good for General Motors and vice versa."

1952 George Santayana b. 1863 Spanish-American poet. Writings: The Realms of Being (1928-40). It was he who said "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

1947 Hugh John Lofting b. 1886 English-born American children's author, illustrator. Writings: The Story of Dr. Dolittle (1920) and its 10 sequels.

1937 Bessie Smith b. 1894 American blues singer, the most successful blues singer of the 1920s and '30s. After her death from a car accident, it was rumored that she died because white hospitals wouldn't admit her. However, later interviews with the ambulance driver and attending physician dispelled these rumors. The rumors were started by a record executive, probably to increase sales of her records. Source biography: Bessie

1820 Daniel Boone b. 1734 American pioneer, Indian fighter.

1763 John Byrom b. 1692 English poet. Writings: Three Black Crows and Fig and Sutton. He invented and published (1767) a system of shorthand titled The Universal English Shorthand.

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