1993 First woman Ivy League president The University of Pennsylvania names Judith Rodin as its president.

1992 The three-story 430-year-old Muslim Mosque of Babri is destroyed by Hindu fundamentalist claiming it was built on the birth-site of the Hindu god Rama. This led to riots killing over 1,200 people.

1967 First successful U.S. human heart transplant Performed by a team led by Dr. Adrian Kantrowitz.

1957 First U.S. attempt to launch a satellite It blew up several feet off the ground.

1923 First U.S. radio network is established, when six stations are connected by wire.

1917 Halifax, Nova Scotia explosion A French munitions ship loaded with over 67 tons of explosives is struck by another ship. The ensuing explosion killed 1,600 people and destroyed much of the city.

1917 Finland declares its independence from Russia.

1884 Washington Monument Construction of the first national monument to honor George Washington is completed. It had begun in 1848.

1865 13th Amendment ratified abolishing slavery in the U.S.

1971 Ryan White d. 1990 American AIDS victim. He became a national symbol when he was barred from the Indiana public school system (1985).

1955 Steven Wright American comedian.

1953 Tom Hulce American actor. Film: National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) and Amadeus (1984, title role).

1924 Wally Cox d. 1973 American comedian. TV: Mr. Peepers (title role) and Underdog (voice of Underdog: "There's no need to fear-Underdog is here").

1908 Baby Face Nelson d. 1934 (George Nelson), American criminal, member of John Dillinger's gang.

1906 Agnes Moorehead d. 1974 American Emmy-winning actress. Film: Citizen Kane (1941), and The Magnificent Ambersons (1943). TV: Bewitched (Samantha's mother Endora). Her death was attributed to radiation exposure received from an A-bomb test near the filming of the movie The Conqueror in 1953.

1898 Alfred Eisenstaedt d. 1995 German-born American photographer. He took the famous picture of a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square on VJ day that appeared on the cover of Life magazine.

1896 Ira Gershwin d. 1983 American Pulitzer-winning lyricist, collaborated with his brother George for Funny Face (1927), Strike Up The Band (1929), Of the I Sing (1931, Pulitzer).

1889 Robert Winship Woodruff d. 1985 American businessman. As president of Coca-Cola (1923-55), he changed it from a faltering debt-ridden business into a multi-million dollar empire. Six weeks after his death Coca-Cola announced it was changing its 99-year-old formula.

1862 William S. Hart d. 1946 American silent Western actor.

1794 Luigi Lablache d. 1858 Italian opera singer. He sang at the funerals of Franz Joseph Haydn (1809), Ludwig van Beethoven (1827) and Frederic Chopin (1849).

1421 Henry VI d. 1471 King of England (1422-61, 1470-71).

2000 Werner Klemperer b. 1920 German Emmy-winning actor. TV: Hogan's Heroes (Emmy, as Colonel Klink). He and his family fled the Nazis in 1933.

1993 Don Ameche b. 1908 (Dominic Felix Amici), American Oscar-winning actor. Film: The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939), Trading Places (1983), and Cocoon (1985, Oscar).

1989 Frances Bavier b. 1902 American actress. TV: The Andy Griffith Show (Aunt Bee).

1988 Roy Orbison b. 1936 American singer. Music: Oh, Pretty Woman (1964, #1).

1985 Burr Tillstrom b. 1917 American Emmy-winning puppeteer. TV: Kukla, Fran, and Ollie (creator and operator of the puppets).

1967 Béla Schick b. 1877 Hungarian-born American pediatrician. He developed the Schick test (1913) for diphtheria, which led to effective inoculation against the disease.

1949 Huddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter b. 1889 American blues and folk musician, "King of the 12-string guitar." Music: wrote Goodnight Irene, The Midnight Special, and The Rock Island Line.

1889 Jefferson Davis b. 1808 president of the Confederacy (1861-65).

1882 Anthony Trollope b. 1815 English novelist. He was one of the most successful and prolific English novelists of the Victorian era. Writings: Chronicles of Barsetshire. He is also responsible for introducing the familiar red pillar mailboxes in Britain (1853).

1805 Nicolas-Jacques Conté b. 1755 French painter, inventor of the modern pencil. He developed the process of combining powdered graphite with clay and pressing it between two wooden halves.

1352 Clement VI b. 1291 French-born religious leader, 198th Pope (1342-52).

903 Leo V b. ???? Italian religious leader, 118th Pope (July - Sept. 903). He was overthrown and imprisoned by Cardinal Christopher, who then took the papal seat, but was soon displaced by Sergius III.

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