2000 USS Cole Bombing Suicide bombers from Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda explode a small craft next to the US Navy destroyer in Yemen killing 17 sailors.

1992 Is anyone out there? NASA, using two giant radio-telescopes in California and Puerto Rico, begins scanning the skies for signs of alien life.

1992 First pig-to-human liver transplant Cedars-Sinai Medical Center performs the operation on a 26-year-old woman. She died shortly thereafter.

1984 Blank Gun Death Actor Jon-Erik Hexum critically injures himself playing Russian Roulette with a blank gun on the set of TV series Cover Up. He wasn't aware that the wadding fired from blanks is deadly at point blank range. He died six days later.

1973 First U.S. Vice President Appointed Under the 25th Amendment Gerald Ford is appointed the position of U.S. Vice Pres. after the resignation of V.P. Spiro Agnew.

1969 Paul McCartney dead? A Detroit disc jockey and his radio audience determine from "clues" found in Beatles' songs and album covers that Paul had died in an car accident in 1966. They were wrong of course.

1960 Cold War At a United Nations conference, Premier of the Soviet Union Nikita Khrushchev takes off his shoe and pounds a conference table. (Note: Although commonly believed and reported, there is much debate as to whether he pounded the table with his shoe)

1949 First woman U.S. ambassador Eugenie Moore Anderson is nominated by Pres. Truman as ambassador to Denmark. She was sworn in on the 28th.

1933 John Dillinger is freed from prison The Pierpont Bunch rescues him, killing a sheriff in the process. They then formed the famous Dillinger Gang.

1901 First non-religious record Three Blind Mice is recorded.

1861 First ironclad steamer of the U.S. Navy The St. Louis is launched.

1788 John Fitch's steamboat makes the trip from Philadelphia to Burlington in 3 hours, 10 minutes.

1492 Columbus reaches one of the Bahama Islands, naming it San Salvador.

1970 Kirk Cameron American actor. TV: Growing Pains (Mike Seaver).

1950 Susan Anton American actress, Miss California. (1969). Film: Goldengirl (1979). TV: Baywatch.

1935 Luciano Pavarotti Italian tenor. He was caught lip-syncing during a live BBC radio performance (1992).

1932 Jake Garn American politician, U.S. Senator (R-Utah). He was the first U.S. public official launched into space (1985, aboard the space shuttle Discovery).

1932 Dick Gregory American comedian, diet-mix salesman.

1860 Elmer Ambrose Sperry d. 1930 American engineer, inventor of the gyro-compass (1910) and founder of Sperry Electric Co. (1888).

1798 Pedro I d. 1834 first Emperor of Brazil (1822-31).

1537 Edward VI d. 1553 King of England (1547-53). He was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour.

1997 John Denver b. 1943 (Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr.), American Grammy-winning singer. Music: Rocky Mountain High (1972), Thank God I'm A Country Boy (1975, #1), and wrote Leaving On A Jet Plane (1969). He died when the small aircraft he was piloting crashed off the coast of California.

1993 Leon Ames b. 1903 (Leon Waycoff), American actor. TV: Mr. Ed. (as neighbor Gordon Kirkwood). He was one of the 19 founders of the Screen Actors Guild (1933).

1989 Jay Ward b. 1920 American animation producer, creator of Bullwinkle J. Moose.

1969 Sonja Henie b. 1912 Norwegian figure skater, actress. A 10-time world champion (1927-36), she won the Norwegian championship at age 11, the world title at age 13, and Olympic gold medals in 1928, 1932, and 1936.

1954 George Schwartz "Wheaties" Welch b. 1918 American WWII flying ace. It is alleged that he broke the sound barrier two weeks before Chuck Yeager. However, he did so during a dive. Yeager's feat was during level flight.

1940 Tom Mix b. 1880 American silent film western actor. His action-packed films set the pattern for future westerns.

1870 Robert Edward Lee b. 1807 American soldier. He turned down the command of the U.S. Army to become commander of the Virginian forces during the Civil War.

1576 Maximilian II b. 1527 Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (1564-76).

642 John IV b. ???? religious leader, 72nd Pope (640-642).

638 Honorius I b. ???? religious leader, 70th Pope (625-638).

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