1992 Police rush a video store and draw weapons on an armed gunman. The gunman turned out to be a cardboard cutout of Denzel Washington.

1990 Eurotunnel The first stage of the tunnel under the English Channel connecting Britain to France is completed.

1989 The Vatican Pope John Paul II and Mikhail Gorbachev meet in Rome, signaling the end of 70 years of hostility between the Vatican and the USSR.

1961 Fidel Castro The Cuban leader announces that he is a Marxist-Leninist and had hidden this fact in order to seize power.

1959 First color photograph of Earth taken from outer space A Thor missile, launched from Cape Canaveral, takes the photos, although they weren't recovered until two months later, when the missile's nose cone was found in the Bahamas Islands.

1955 Civil Rights Rosa Parks refuses to give her bus seat to a white man. Her arrest prompted a year-long city bus boycott and led to the ruling that bus segregation was unconstitutional.

1942 World War II Nationwide gas rationing goes into effect as a result of the war.

1938 First black woman state legislator Crystal Byrd Fauset begins her term of office to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

1921 First helium-balloon flight The U.S. Navy tests a balloon filled with 181,000 cubic feet of helium in Hampton Roads, Virginia.

1919 First woman elected to the British Parliament American-born Viscountess Lady Astor takes her seat in the House of Commons.

1917 Boys Town Father Flanagan founds the Omaha, Nebraska home for troubled boys. He believed, "There is no such thing as a bad boy."

1913 First drive-up gas station Opens in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1842 First U.S. naval officer executed for mutiny Midshipman Philip Spencer is hanged from the yardarm of the USS Somers for attempted mutiny. His father was Pres. Tyler's Secretary of War at the time.

1824 Presidential election Andrew Jackson defeats John Quincy Adams (99 to 84 electoral votes). But since this is not the necessary majority, the House of Representatives is allowed to choose and they selected Adams.

1958 Charlene Tilton American actress. TV: Dallas (Lucy Ewing).

1950 Richard Keith (Keith Thibodeaux), American actor. TV: I Love Lucy (Little Ricky).

1945 John Paul Densmore American drummer, with the Doors. Music: Light My Fire (1967, #1) and L.A. Woman (1971).

1945 Bette Midler American Grammy-winning singer, actress. Film: The Rose (1979), Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986), Ruthless People (1986), and Outrageous Fortune (1987).

1940 Richard Pryor d. 2005 American Emmy-Grammy winning comedian. Film: Lady Sings the Blues (1972), Blazing Saddles (1974, co-wrote), Silverstreak (1976), Stir Crazy (1980), Richard Pryor Live on Sunset Strip (1982), and Brewster's Millions (1985).

1939 Lee Trevino American golfer, 2-time U.S. Open winner (1968, 71), 2-time British Open winner (1971-72), 2-time PGA Championship winner (1974, 84), and winner of the U.S. Senior Open (1990).

1939 Dianne Lennon American singer, one of the Lennon Sisters. She and her sisters were a mainstay of The Lawrence Welk Show during the 50's and 60's.

1935 Woody Allen (Allen Stewart Konigsberg), American Oscar-winning director, comedian, writer. Film: What's New Pussycat? (1965), Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (1972), Annie Hall (1977, winner of four Oscars, including Best Director and Best Original Screenplay), and Hannah and Her Sisters (1986, Oscar).

1933 Lou Rawls d. 2006 American Grammy-winning blues singer, actor. Music: Love Is A Hurtin' Thing (1966, #1) and You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine (1976, #1). Also known for his phrase "Yeahhhh, buddy!"

1925 David Doyle American actor. TV: Charlie's Angels (Bosley) and Rugrats (voice of Grandpa Pickles).

1913 Mary Martin d. 1990 American Tony-Emmy-winning actress. Stage: Peter Pan (title role), South Pacific, and The Sound of Music. TV: Peter Pan (1956, Emmy). She is the real-life mother of Larry Hagman.

1898 Cyril Ritchard d. 1977 Australian actor. Stage: Peter Pan (1954, Captain Hook).

1886 Rex Todhunter Stout d. 1975 American author, creator of the detective Nero Wolfe (1934).

1844 Alexandra d. 1925 Queen of England, wife of King Edward VII of England.

1761 Madame Tussaud d. 1850 (Marie Grosholtz ), French wax sculptor. Her wax museum (founded 1835) is one of the major tourist attractions in London, and now has branches in Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Las Vegas, Copenhagen and New York City. She was imprisoned for being a royalist during the French Revolution and sentenced to execution by guillotine. However, she was saved for her talents in wax and employed to make death masks of the victims of the guillotine, including Marie Antoinette, Marat, and Robespierre.

1963 James Hatlo b. 1898 American cartoonist, creator of They'll Do It Every Time (1929) and Little Iodine (1943).

1918 Edmond Rostand b. 1868 French poet, playwright. Plays: Cyrano de Bergarac (1897).

1866 Sir George Everest b. 1790 British surveyor, and for whom Mt. Everest is named.

1797 Oliver Wolcott b. 1726 American statesman, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and governor of Connecticut (1796-97).

1521 Leo X b. 1475 Italian religious leader, 217th Pope (1513-21). His granting of indulgences to the faithful who contributed to the Church led to the Reformation. He excommunicated Luther in 1521.

1135 Henry I b. 1068 King of England (1100-35).

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