Those born on this date are under the sign of Gemini. They include actor Hattie McDaniel, the first African-American to win an Oscar (Best Supporting Actress in 1939 for "Gone with the Wind"), in 1895; Broadway composer Frederick Loewe in 1901; Nobel literature laureate Saul Bellow in 1915; Britain's Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, in 1921 (age 93); Hollywood icon Judy Garland in 1922; children's author and illustrator Maurice Sendak in 1928; attorney F. Lee Bailey in 1933 (age 81); football Hall of Fame member Dan Fouts in 1951 (age 63); actor Andrew Stevens in 1955 (age 59); model/actor Elizabeth Hurley in 1965 (age 49); Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal in 1971 (age 43); Olympic figure skater Tara Lipinski in 1982 (age 32) and actor Leelee Sobieski in 1983 (age 31).
On this date in history:
In 1652, silversmith John Hull, in defiance of English colonial law, established the first mint in America.
In 1692, Bridget Bishop was found guilty of the practice of witchcraft and hanged in Salem Village in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. She was the first colonist executed during the Salem witch trials,
In 1898, U.S. Marines invaded Cuba in the Spanish-American War.
In 1935, Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in Akron, Ohio.
In 1942, the German Gestapo burned the tiny Czech village of Lidice after shooting 173 men and shipping the women and children to concentration camps.
In 1943, Hungarian Laszlo Biro invented the ballpoint pen.
In 1998, a jury in Jacksonville, Fla., found the Brown and Williamson Tobacco Corp. liable in the lung-cancer death of a smoker. The jury awarded his family $950,000, including $450,000 in punitive damages -- the first such assessment in a smoking-related lawsuit.
In 2000, Syrian President Hafez Assad died from a heart attack at age 69. He had ruled the country since 1970.
In 2003, a three-member Ontario Court of Appeal in Canada ordered that full marriage rights be extended to same-sex couples.
In 2004, Ray Charles, a 12-time Grammy-winning singer-pianist who pioneered the blending of country and R&B, died at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif. He was 73.
In 2006, three detainees at the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, hanged themselves.
In 2009, Chrysler, one of America's "Big 3" automakers, climbed out of bankruptcy with a reconstruction plan that included a partnership deal with Italian carmaker Fiat.
In 2012, wildfires burned numerous structures and forced evacuations in Colorado and New Mexico but no serious injuries were reported.
In 2013, car bombings killed at least 57 people in central and northern Iraq. In Afghanistan, seven Taliban insurgents with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades attacked a military area near Kabul's airport and all were killed by security forces.
A thought for the day: "Washington, D.C. is a city filled with people who believe they are important." -- David Brinkley
Read More
- Force-feeding of hunger striker at Guantánamo Bay allowed to continue
- Congress rejects AUMF sunset amendment, war on terror to continue, Guantanamo still open
- Zac Efron opens up about about addiction: 'It's a never-ending struggle'
- Leelee Sobieski expecting second baby
- Prince Philip undergoes medical procedure on right hand
- Topics
- Guantanamo Bay
