1991 The last Kuwait oil well fire is extinguished Iraqi forces has ignited them while retreating in the Gulf War.

1987 A banana is used to demonstrate how to put on a condom by singer Ruben Blades on a PBS special.

1967 Donahue The TV show debuts as a local program in Dayton, Ohio. It was a pioneer in controversial daytime talk-shows.

1963 Laura Bush Laura Welch, the 17-year-old future first lady, runs a stop sign striking a car and killing its sole occupant, Michael Douglass, her 17-year-old friend and classmate.

1928 First animated electric sign in the U.S. is installed, on the Times Building in New York's Time Square.

1923 The electric razor is patented, by Colonel Jacob Schick.

1908 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid The notorious outlaws are trapped by Bolivian officials and reportedly killed in the ensuing gun battle.

1869 First U.S. intercollegiate football game Rutgers beats Princeton 6-4, although the rules were more like soccer.

1860 The Only Third-Party U.S. president Abraham Lincoln (Republican) is elected.

1955 Maria Shriver journalist. TV: First Person (anchorwoman).

1949 Brad Davis d. 1991 American actor. Film: Midnight Express. He died of AIDS.

1948 Glenn Frey American singer, with The Eagles. Music: Take It Easy (1972), Hotel California (1976, #1), and Smuggler's Blues (1985).

1946 Sally Field American Oscar-Emmy-winning actress. TV: Gidget (title role) and The Flying Nun (title roll).

1931 Mike Nichols (Michael Igor Peschkowsky), German-born American Oscar-Tony-winning director. Stage: Barefoot in the Park (1963, Tony) and The Odd Couple (1965, Tony). Film: The Graduate (1967, Oscar).

1921 James Jones d. 1977 American author. Writings: From Here to Eternity (1951), which in 1954 was declared unmailable by the U.S. Post Office.

1914 Jonathan Harris d. 2002 (Jonathan Charasuchin), American actor. TV: Lost in Space (Dr. Zachary Smith).

1903 June Marlowe d. 1984 (Gisella Goetten), American actress. Film: The Little Rascals series (Mrs. Crabtree, the schoolteacher).

1861 James Naismith d. 1939 American gym instructor. He invented basketball while an instructor for the YMCA (1891). A few years later basketball was banned by the YMCA, which claimed not enough people could play at one time.

1854 John Philip Sousa d. 1932 American bandmaster, The March King, bandmaster of the U.S. Marine Band. He composed The Stars and Stripes Forever (1897).

1814 Adolphe Sax d. 1894 Belgian instrument maker. He patented the saxophone (1846).

1671 Colley Cibber d. 1757 English actor, dramatist. He wrote the first opera performed in America: Flora; or Hob in the Well (1735).

1963 Clarence Elmer Mitchell b. 1891 American baseball player. He is the only person to have hit a triple in a World Series game (1920).

1905 Sir George Williams b. 1821 English merchant, founded the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA, 1844).

1893 Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky b. 1840 Russian composer. Music: The Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker.

1858 Samuel Cornish b. 1795 American journalist. He co-published the first African-American newspaper in American, Freedom's Journal (1827).

1836 Charles X b. 1757 King of France (1824-30), his unpopular rule led to a revolution in which he lost the throne.

1672 Heinrich Schutz b. 1585 German composer, called the "Father of German music." He composed Dafne (1727), the first German opera.

1406 Innocent VII b. 1336 Italian religious leader, 204th Pope (1404-06).

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