Holy Innocents Day Commemorating the infants killed by Herod's soldiers while trying to kill the baby Jesus.

1992 Katie Beers The 10-year-old girl is kidnapped by her next-door neighbor, who held her for 16 days in a dungeon he had built beneath his garage.

1978 Federal Labor Relations Authority is established.

1972 First U.S. stereo TV broadcast WNEW-TV and WNET of New York air a 30-minute stereo program.

1920 Amelia Earhart The famed aviator takes her airplane flight. The experience made her determined to become an aviator.

1908 Messina earthquake 80,000 people are killed when the ancient town of Messina, Sicily is struck by the largest earthquake to ever strike Europe.

1897 Cyrano de Bergerac French playwright Edmond Rostand's famous play is first performed and is an immediate success.

1895 First medical X-ray Of a gunshot wound to the hand, in Vienna.

1869 Chewing gum William Finley Semple is issued the first U.S. patent for chewing gum.

1846 Iowa becomes the 29th state.

1835 Second Seminole War Florida Seminole Indians, protesting their forced removal, kill Major Dade and 100 of his men. Another group, led by Osceola, killed Gen. Wiley Thompson and four others.

1832 First U.S. vice-president to resign John C. Calhoun resigns after a disagreement with Pres. Jackson. He then went on to fill a vacancy in the U.S. Senate.

1981 Elizabeth Jordon Carr first test-tube baby born in the U.S.

1954 Denzel Washington American Oscar-winning actor. Film: Cry Freedom (1987), Glory (1989, Oscar) and Mo' Better Blues (1990). TV: St. Elsewhere (Dr. Chandler).

1946 Edgar Winter American albino singer, musician. Music: Frankenstein (1973, #1) and Free Ride.

1934 Maggie Smith English Oscar-winning actress. Film: The Prime of Miss Jean Bodie (1969, Oscar, title role), A Private Function (1985), and A Room With a View (1986).

1929 Terry Sawchuk d. 1970 American hockey goalie. He was Rookie of the Year (1950), Goaltender of the Year (1951-52, 54, 64), and is the all-time leader in wins (435) and shutouts (103).

1925 Hidlegarde Neff (Hidlegard Knef), German actress. Broadway: Silk Stockings (1955). Film: The Sinner (1951). During World War II, disguised as a man, she fought on the front lines and was captured by the Russians, but later escaped.

1922 Stan Lee (Stanley Lieber), American cartoonist, created The Fantastic Four (1961), The Amazing Spider-Man (1962) and The Hulk (1962).

1914 Lee Bowman d. 1979 American actor. TV: Ellery Queen (title role).

1913 Lou Jacobi Canadian actor. TV: Somerset (Mac Wells).

1908 Lew Ayres d. 1996 (Lewis Frederick Ayre III), American actor. Film: All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) and Young Dr. Kildare (1938, title role).  Rejected for a TV version of Dr. Kildare because he refused to allow cigarette sponsorship.

1905 Earl "Fatha" Hines d. 1983 American jazz pianist, "Father of Modern Jazz Piano." Music: My Monday Date, Caution Blues, Fifty-Seven Varieties, and Rosetta.

1905 Cliff Arquette d. 1974 American actor. TV: The Charley Weaver Show (title role) and Hollywood Squares (guest).

1888 Martin Branner d. 1970 American cartoonist, creator of Winnie Winkle, the Breadwinner (1920).

1856 Thomas Woodrow Wilson d. 1924 28th U.S. President (1913-21). He suffered a paralyzing stroke in 1919 while still in office. Some claim that it was his wife who actually ran the government for the remainder of his term.

1990 Kiel Martin b. 1944 American actor. TV: Hill Street Blues (Det. LaRue).

1987 Terry Dolan b. 1951 homophobic co-founder of the National Conservative Political Action Committee (NCPAC). He died of AIDS.

1984 Sam Peckinpah b. 1925 American film director. Film: Ride the High Country (1962), The Wild Bunch (1969), Straw Dogs (1971), and The Osterman Weekend (1983).

1983 Dennis Wilson b. 1944 American singer, with The Beach Boys. Music: Surfin' USA (1963), I Get Around (1964, #1), Help Me Rhonda, (1965, #1), and Good Vibrations (1966, #1). He drowned while swimming in Marina Del Rey, California; he should have stayed on the beach.

1963 A.J. Liebling b. 1904 American author, famous for his quote "Freedom of the press belongs to those who own one."

1946 Carrie Jacobs Bond b. 1862 American composer. Music: I Love You Truly and A Perfect Day.

1937 Joseph-Maurice Ravel b. 1875 French composer. Music: Boléro (1928).

1694 Mary II b. 1662 Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1689-94). She died of smallpox.

1663 Francesco Maria Grimaldi b. 1618 Italian mathematician, physicist. He discovering that the distance covered by a falling object was proportional to the square of the time of the fall and coined the word 'diffraction.'

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