Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. They include Protestant theologian John Calvin in 1509; British judge William Blackstone in 1723; painter James Whistler in 1834; German brewer Adolphus Busch in 1839; inventor Nikola Tesla in 1856; French novelist Marcel Proust in 1871; educator Mary McLeod Bethune in 1875; TV news anchor/commentator David Brinkley in 1920; social activist Eunice Kennedy Shriver in 1921; boxer Jake LaMotta in 1921 (age 93); author Jean Kerr in 1922; actor Fred Gwynne in 1926; former New York City Mayor David Dinkins in 1927 (age 87); musician Ronnie James Dio in 1942; tennis stars Arthur Ashe in 1943 and Virginia Wade in 1945 (age 69); actors Ron Glass, also in 1945 (age 69) and Sue Lyon in 1946 (age 68); folksinger Arlo Guthrie in 1947 (age 67); baseball Hall of Fame member Andre Dawson in 1954 (age 60); and actor Jessica Simpson in 1980 (age 34).
On this date in history:
In 1890, Wyoming was admitted to the United States as the 44th state.
In 1925, the so-called Monkey Trial, in which John Scopes was accused of teaching evolution in school, a violation of state law, began in Dayton, Tenn., featuring a classic confrontation between William Jennings Bryan, the three-time presidential candidate and fundamentalist hero, and legendary defense attorney Clarence Darrow.
In 1938, industrialist Howard Hughes and a crew of four flew around the world in 91 hours, setting a speed record.
In 1962, the pioneer telecommunications satellite Telstar began relaying TV pictures between the United States and Europe.
In 1985, Coca-Cola, besieged by consumers dissatisfied with the new Coke introduced in April, dusted off the old formula and dubbed it "Coke Classic."
In 1989, Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and countless other Warner Bros. cartoon characters and radio and TV comic creations, died from complications of heart disease. He was 81.
In 1991, in Moscow, Boris Yeltsin was inaugurated as the first freely elected president of the Russian republic.
In 1992, former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega was sentenced to 40 years in prison for cocaine racketeering.
In 1999, the U.S. team won the Women's World Cup in soccer, defeating China in the final on penalty kicks.
In 2009, General Motors completed its race through bankruptcy with the signing of a contract with the U.S. government, which got 61 percent of the company. The recovery plan included considerable shrinkage, including the closing of factories and layoffs of 21,000 union workers.
In 2011, media mogul Rupert Murdoch's News of the World, Britain's best-selling weekly newspaper, abruptly ceased publication amid allegations that its reporters and investigators had hacked into telephones of royalty, politicians, celebrities, homicide victims, families of fallen soldiers and others to illegally gain material for stories.
In 2012, An Israeli court acquitted former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of corruption but found him guilty of breach of trust. The charges stemmed from a period before he was PM.
In 2013, accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev pleaded not guilty to multiple charges in the April 15 attack that killed three people and injured 260.
A thought for the day: "True champions aren't always the ones that win, but those with the most guts." -- Mia Hamm
