1978 First U.S. coin to honor a woman The Susan B. Anthony dollar is issued. Source: Famous First Facts

1977 Bill Gates The future co-founder of Microsoft is arrested for reckless driving and driving without a license.

1961 The Beatles Brian Epstein becomes the Liverpool group's manager. He had heard them play a month earlier in a local club called "The Cavern Club."

1952 UFOs George Adamski, often referred to as the first abductee, has has his second encounter with the Venusian named Orthon where he took his now famous photograph of Orthon's ship.

1931 Winston Churchill The English statesman is hit by a car while walking down Fifth Ave. in New York City.

1920 First measurement of the diameter of a star (other than the Sun): Albert Michelson, of Mount Wilson Observatory, California, using his stellar interferometer, measures Betelgeuse (the bright red star in the right shoulder of Orion). It was 260 million miles in diameter.

1918 First U.S. president to visit a European country while in office Woodrow Wilson arrives in France for a two-month visit.

1901 First use a telephone to capture a felon in the U.S Kid Curry, of the Wild Bunch gang, is arrested after a Tennessee merchant spotted him and called the police.

1862 Civil War - Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia The Union Army loses 12,000 men in its defeat to Lee's forces.

1816 First savings bank in the U.S Provident Institution for Savings in Boston is chartered.

1759 First U.S. music store A Philadelphia, Pennsylvania music store, which had opened earlier in the year, begins advertising the sale of musical instruments and supplies.

1642 New Zealand The southern island of New Zealand is discovered, by Dutch navigator Abel Janszoon Tasman.

1577 Sir Francis Drake - Circumnavigation of the globe The English navigator departs from Plymouth, England, beginning his voyage. He completed the trip in September of 1580.

1948 Ted Nugent American guitarist, the "Motor City Madman." Music: Cat Scratch Fever (1977) and Little Miss Dangerous (1986).

1941 John Davidson American singer, TV personality.  TV: host of That's Incredible! and Hollywood Squares

1929 Christopher Plummer Canadian Emmy-winning actor. Film: The Sound of Music (1965, Baron Von Trapp) and The Man Who Would Be King (1975, Rudyard Kipling).

1925 Dick Van Dyke American Tony-Emmy-winning actor. Film: Bye Bye Birdie (1963), Mary Poppins (1964), and Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang (1968). TV: The Dick Van Dyke Show (Emmy), and Diagnosis: Murder.

1920 George Pratt Shultz U.S. Secretary of State (1982-89) under Pres. Reagan. He signed a 1998 advertisement published in the New York Times entitled "We believe the global war on drugs is now causing more harm than drug abuse itself."

1916 Mark Stevens d. 1994 (Richard Stevens), American actor. TV: Martin Kane, Private Eye (title role) and Big Town (Steve Wilson).

1915 Ross Macdonald d. 1983 (Kenneth Millar), American mystery author, creator of the private eye Lew Archer.

1914 Larry Parks d. 1975 (Samuel Lawrence Klausman Parks), American actor. Film: The Jolson Story (1946, title role) and Jolson Sings Again (1949, title role).

1887 Sgt. York d. 1964 (Alvin Cullum York), American World War I hero. In 1918 during the Meuse-Argonne offensive, he killed 25 members of a German machine-gun battalion and captured 132 others. He originally applied for conscientious objector status, but was denied.

1835 Phillips Brooks d. 1893 American clergyman. He wrote the carol O Little Town of Bethlehem (1868). Source: An Almanac of the Christian Church

1818 Mary Todd Lincoln d. 1882 American first lady, widow of Abraham Lincoln. She was declared insane and committed to an mental institution (1875), but was later released.

1797 Heinrich Heine d. 1856 German author, poet, lyricist. Among his writings are some of Germany's best-known lyrics.

1992 Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney b. 1899 American businessman, co-founder of Pan American Airways (1927) and co-producer of Gone With the Wind (1939).

1990 Alice Marble b. 1913 American tennis player, winner of four U.S. amateur singles titles.

1986 Heather Angel b. 1909 British actress. TV: Family Affair (Miss Faversham).

1981 Dewey "Pigmeat" Markham b. 1904 American comedian. TV: Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (the judge).

1961 Grandma Moses b. 1860 (Anna Robertson Moses), American artist, known for her bright pictures of American rural life. She began her painting career at age 78.

1934 Thomas Augustus Watson b. 1854 American telephone technician and shipbuilder. He was Alexander Bell's assistant during his discovery of the telephone and was one of the founders of Bell Telephone.

1924 Samuel Gompers b. 1850 English-born American labor leader, first president of the American Federation of Labor (AFL).

1865 William Augustus Barstow b. 1813 American politician, governor of Wisconsin (1854-56). After the discovery of election irregularities, he became the first U.S. governor removed from office by a state supreme court (1856).

1784 Samuel Johnson b. 1709 English lexicographer, poet. He wrote the first major English language dictionary (1755).

1466 Donatello b. circa 1386 (Donatodi Niccolo di Betto Bardi), Italian Renaissance artist, father of modern sculpture. He created the masterpiece David.

1204 Maimonides b. 1135 Jewish rabbi, Talmudic scholar, philosopher. His teachings greatly influenced the Christian religion. Source: An Almanac of the Christian Church

1124 Calixtus II b. ???? religious leader, 162nd Pope (1119-24).

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