St. Catherine's Day Patron saint of maidens, mechanics, philosophers, and those who work with wheels.

1986 Iran-Contra Affair U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese announces that $10 million of the $30 million from the sale of weapons to Iran had been illegally diverted to Nicaraguan contras.

1984 Do They Know It's Christmas? Under the direction of Irish singer Bob Geldof, numerous artists - including Sting, Phil Collins, Boy George, George Michael, and Bono - record the song to raise money for Ethiopian famine relief. It became Britain's biggest-ever selling record.

1973 Arab Oil Embargo Pres. Nixon calls for a ban on the sale of gasoline on Sundays in response to the embargo.

1971 D.B. Cooper The hijacker parachutes out of a 727 jet with $200,000 ransom money and is never heard from again.

1961 First nuclear powered aircraft carrier The USS Enterprise is commissioned.

1960 Last broadcasts of network radio soap operas The final episodes of Ma Perkins, Right to Happiness, The Second Mrs. Burton and Young Doctor Malone are broadcast.

1956 Civil Rights Segregation on interstate buses is ruled illegal by the Interstate Commerce Commission.

1952 George Meany becomes president of the American Federation of Labor.

1876 The Greenback political party is formed, their platform was based on inflating U.S. currency.

1851 First Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) in Canada is established.

1847 A letter is mailed using a 5¢ U.S. 1847 Blue Alexandria postage stamp In May 1981 this stamp was sold for $1,000,000.

1971 Christina Applegate American actress. TV: Married with Children (Kelly Bundy).

1960 John F. Kennedy, Jr d. 1999 American lawyer, son of Pres. John F. Kennedy. He, his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette were killed in a plane crash off the coast of Martha's Vineyard. The plane was piloted by Kennedy.

1947 John Larroquette American Emmy-winning actor. TV: Night Court (Emmy, Dan Fielding) and The John Larroquette Show. Film: Stripes (1981) and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984).

1941 Percy Sledge American singer. Music: When a Man Loves a Woman (1966 ) which became the first gold record released by Atlantic Records.

1925 Jeffrey Hunter d. 1969 (Henry H. McKinnies), American actor. Film: King of Kings (1961, Christ). TV: Star Trek (Capt. Pike, the first commander of the Enterprise).

1920 Ricardo Montalbán (Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán Merino), Mexican-born Emmy-winning actor. Film: Escape From the Planet of the Apes (1971) and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982). TV: Fantasy Island (Mr. Roarke), How the West Was Won (1978, Emmy), and pitchman for the Chrysler Cordoba with its "rich Corinthian leather."

1914 Joe DiMaggio d. 1999 (Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio, Jr.), American Baseball Hall-of-Famer, and ex-husband of Marilyn Monroe.  His is the only major league player selected for the All-Star Game in every season they played.  His record-breaking 56-game hitting streak in the 1941 season still stands.

1913 Lewis Thomas d. 1993 American physician, "Poet Laureate of 20th Century Medical Science." Writings: The Lives of the Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher (1974, National Book Award) and The Medusa and the Snail (1979, American Book Award).

1883 Harvey Spencer Lewis d. 1939 American spiritualist, founder of the Rosicrucian order Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis (1915).

1881 John XXIII d. 1963 (Angelo Roncalli), 261st Pope (1958-63). He was the first pope named Time magazine's Man of the Year.

1880 Frank J. "Fiddler" Corridon d. 1941 American baseball pitcher. He is credited with inventing the spitball (1904).

1846 Carry Nation d. 1911 American prohibitionist, known for attacking saloons with a hatchet.

1835 Andrew Carnegie d. 1919 American steel-magnate, philanthropist.

1787 Franz Gruber d. 1863 Austrian church organist, wrote the melody to Silent Night, Holy Night (1818). Source: An Almanac of the Christian Church

1993 Anthony Burgess b. 1917 (John Anthony Burgess Wilson), British author. Writings: A Clockwork Orange (1962).

1991 Freddie Mercury b. 1946 (Frederick Bulsara), musician, lead singer of Queen, died of AIDS.

1987 Harold Washington b. 1922 American politician, first black mayor of Chicago (1983).

1984 Sylvan Nathan Goldman b. 1898 American businessman, inventor of the shopping cart (1937).  He had noticed that customers quit shopping when their handheld baskets became full. His first cart was essentially a folding chair with wheels and baskets attached.  He also invented "nested" shopping carts, where the carts are pushed inside of each other for storage.

1981 Jack Albertson b. 1907 American Oscar-Tony-Emmy-winning actor. TV: Chico and the Man (Ed Brown - the Man).

1973 Laurence Harvey b. 1928 (L. Mischa Skikne), Lithuanian-born American actor. Film: Room at the Top (1958, Joe Lampton), The Manchurian Candidate (1962, the assassin).

1972 Henri Marie Coandă b. 1886 Romanian inventor. He built and piloted the first jet-powered aircraft (1910) which crashed on its only run. While watching the crashed jet burn, he noticed that burning gases hugged the sides of the aircraft. This effect, which he researched, became known as the Coandă effect.

1968 Upton Sinclair b. 1878 American author. Writings: The Jungle (1906).

1949 Bojangles b. 1878 (Luther Bill Robinson), American tap dancer, known as the Mayor of Harlem.

1944 Kenesaw Mountain Landis b. 1866 American federal judge. He served as the first baseball commissioner (1921-44), during which he barred eight Chicago players from baseball in the famous "Black Sox Scandal."

1885 Thomas Andrews Hendricks b. 1819 21st U.S. Vice-President (1885).

1748 Isaac Watts b. 1674 English clergyman, founder of modern English hymnody, and author of the hymn Joy To the World (1719). Source: An Almanac of the Christian Church

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