1988 River Ferry capsizes en route to Dhaka, Bangladesh, 250 persons missing, believed dead.

1985 Terrorist attacks Palestinian terrorists kill 20 civilians at airport ticket counters in Rome and Vienna.

1979 Soviet war in Afghanistan Russia invades starting the nearly 10-year conflict between the Soviet Army and rebels in Afghanistan.

1947 Howdy Doody dubuts on NBC, with only the voice for Howdy, since the puppet was still being built.

1945 World Bank It is established at a meeting in Washington, D.C. Source: Famous First Facts

1932 Radio City Music Hall Opens in New York City, featuring the high-kicking Rocketts.

1927 Show Boat Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern's musical opens at the Ziegfield Theater on Broadway.

1975 Heather O'Rourke d. 1988 American child actress. Film: Poltergeist (1982, Carol Anne) and Poltergeist II (1986).

1941 John Amos American actor. TV: Good Times (J.J.'s father).

1918 John Celardo cartoonist, artist for Tarzan (1958-68).

1917 Mary Kornman d. 1973 American actress. She appeared in 41 Our Gang films.

1915 William Howell Masters American physician, obstetrician, sex therapists.

1906 Benjamin Eisenstadt d. 1996 American inventor. He originated the idea of individual-sized sugar packets for use in restaurants and he and his son Marvin invented "Sweet'N Low" artificial sweetener (1957). The musical-scale logo for Sweet'N Low received Federal Trademark Registration No. 1,000,000.

1901 Marlene Dietrich d. 1992 (Maria Magdalene Dietrich), German-born American actress, singer. Film: The Blue Angel (1930). She was awarded the Medal of Freedom for her efforts during World War II.

1896 Arch Ward d. 1955 American sports editor for the Chicago Tribune. He originated the idea of major-league all-star baseball (1933) and football games (1934).

1822 Louis Pasteur d. 1895 French chemist, bacteriologist, discovered a vaccination for rabies (1885) and food preservation by heating (pasteurization).

1773 Sir George Cayley d. 1857 English inventor, "Father of Aerodynamics." He piloted the first manned glider.

1717 Pius VI d. 1799 Italian religious leader, 250th Pope (1775-99). He was imprisoned (1798) by Bonaparte, where he died.

1571 Johann Kepler d. 1630 German mathematician, astronomer, "Father of Modern Astronomy," discovered that planetary orbits are elliptical (1609) and invented the astronomical telescope (1611).

2003 Sir Alan Arthur Bates b. 1934 British actor. Film: The Fixer (1968).

1993 David Pace b. 1914 American businessman, creator of Pace Picante Sauce (1947).  He played in the first Sugar Bowl (1937), while on a football scholarship to Tulane University.

1988 Hal Ashby b. 1929 American Oscar-winning editor, director. Film: In the Heat of the Night (1967, Oscar for Film Editing), Harold and Maude (1971), and Shampoo (1975).

1982 John Leonard "Jack" Swigert, Jr b. 1931 American astronaut.  During Apollo 13 he proclaimed, "Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here."  Lovell repeated the sentiment a few seconds later.

1955 Ham Fisher b. 1900 (Hammond Edward Fisher), American cartoonist, created Joe Palooka (1927).

1836 Stephen Fuller Austin b. 1793 American pioneer, "Father of Texas." He established the first American settlement in Texas (Austin, 1822).

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