1992 Walt Disney The entertainment giant announces that they are putting an NHL franchise in Orange County, California.

1971 Singer Frank Zappa is pushed off a London stage by a fan. He suffered a broken leg and ankle and a fractured skull.

1971 Farm Credit Administration is established.

1959 First black to win an Emmy Tonight with Belafonte airs on CBS, for which Belafonte would win the award.

1958 First U.S. domestic jet airline passenger service National Airlines opens a route between N.Y. and Miami.

1904 Bethlehem Steel Corp. is founded.

1898 Spanish-American War Treaty of Paris signed as a result of the war. The U.S. acquires the Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico, and Spain gives up all claims to Cuba.

1817 Mississippi becomes the 20th state. Mississippi is Chippewa for "great river."

1952 Susan Dey American actress. TV: The Partridge Family (Laurie) and L.A. Law (Grace Van Owen).

1932 Dan Blocker d. 1972 American actor. TV: Bonanza (Hoss Cartwright).

1923 Harold Gould American actor. TV: Rhoda (Rhoda's father).

1914 Dorothy Lamour d. 1996 (Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton), American actress. Film: The Jungle Princess (1936, as Ulah) and star of numerous Hope-Crosby road films.

1911 Chet Huntley d. 1974 (Chester Robert Huntley), American newsman. TV: NBC's Huntley-Brinkley Report. "Goodnight, Chet."

1908 Olivier Messiaen French composer.

1900 Roy Edward "Dizzy" Carlyle d. 1956 American baseball player. He hit the longest recorded home run (1929, 618 feet during a minor-league game). Source: Guinness Book of World Records

1851 Melvil Dewey d. 1931 American librarian, creator of the Dewey Decimal System (1876).

1830 Emily Dickinson d. 1866 American poet. Of her over 1,800 poems, only seven were published during her lifetime.

1817 Alexander Wood d. 1884 Scottish physician, the first to use a syringe to inject medicine (1855).

2005 Richard Pryor b. 1940 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).

2005 Eugene McCarthy b. 1916 U.S. Senator (1959-71). In 1968, he ran against incumbent Lyndon Johnson in the New Hampshire Democratic primary, with the intention of influencing the government to curtail its involvement in the Vietnam War. A number of antiwar activists cut their long hair and beards in order to campaign for McCarthy door-to-door, leading to the slogan "Get clean for Gene."

1990 Armand Hammer b. 1898 American businessman, president of Occidental Petroleum Corporation.  Some speculate that he was named after the "arm and hammer" symbol of the Soviet Labor Party of American.  Known for his close ties to the Soviet Union, he bragged that he was the only man who was friends with both Lenin and Pres. Reagan.

1982 Freeman Fisher Gosden b. 1899 radio comedian, Amos of Amos 'n Andy.

1967 Otis Redding b. 1941 singer, "The King of Soul." Music: Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay (1968), his only Billboard #1, it was released a month after he died in a plane crash.

1946 Damon Runyon b. 1884 American author, columnist. Writings: Guys and Dolls (1932). The stage version of Guys and Dolls featured characters from his various stories.

1941 Colin Purdie Kelly b. 1915 American soldier, first U.S. air hero of World War II. Died when his B-17 was shot down by the Japanese, for which he was awarded the distinguished Service Cross.

1896 Alfred Bernhard Nobel b. 1833 Swedish chemist, inventor of dynamite. The terms of his will established Nobel prizes.

1864 Henry Rowe Schoolcraft b. 1793 American explorer, discovered the source of the Mississippi (1832).

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