Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include educator Horace Mann in 1796; English biologist and agnostic Thomas Huxley in 1825; American landscape painter Frederic Church in 1826; New York Roman Catholic Cardinal Francis Spellman in 1889; former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in 1928 (age 86); musician Maynard Ferguson in 1928; actor Audrey Hepburn in 1929; opera singer Roberta Peters and Katherine Jackson, matriarch of the singing Jackson family, both in 1930 (age 84); guitarist Dick Dale in 1937 (age 77); novelist Robin Cook in 1940 (age 74); political commentator George Will in 1941 (age 73); singer Nickolas Ashford in 1941; Sigmund "Jackie" Jackson, member of the Jackson 5, in 1951 (age 63); Oleta Adams in 1953 (age 61); actor Pia Zadora in 1954 (age 60); country singer Randy Travis in 1959 (age 55); actors Ana Gasteyer in 1967 (age 47) and Will Arnett in 1970 (age 44); sports reporter Erin Andrews in 1978 (age 36); pop singer Lance Bass in 1979 (age 35); and professional golfer Rory McIlroy in 1989 (age 25).
On this date in history:
In 1494, on his second expedition to the New World, Columbus discovered Jamaica.
In 1886, four police officers were killed when a bomb was thrown during a meeting of anarchists in Chicago's Haymarket Square protesting labor unrest. Four leaders of the demonstration, which became known as the Haymarket Square Riot, were convicted and hanged.
In 1904, construction began on the Panama Canal.
In 1942, the Battle of the Coral Sea began. (It was a turning point for the Allies in World War II, with Japan losing 39 ships and the United States one.)
In 1953, "The Old Man and the Sea" by Ernest Hemingway was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
In 1959, the first Grammy Awards were presented. "Nel Blu Dipinto di Blu (Volare)" by Domenico Modugno won the awards for Record and Song of the Year.
In 1970, National Guardsmen killed four students at Kent State University in Ohio during a demonstration against the Vietnam War.
In 1980, President Joseph Broz Tito of Yugoslavia died at age 87.
In 1982, an Argentine jet fighter sank the British destroyer HMS Sheffield during the Falkland Islands war.
In 1990, Latvia became the last of the Baltic republics to take steps toward secession from the Soviet Union.
In 2000, the "I Love You" computer virus crashed computers around the world.
In 2001, Pope John Paul II flew to Greece to begin a journey retracing the steps of the Apostle Paul through historic lands.
In 2006, confessed terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui was sentenced to life in prison without parole. The 37-year-old Moroccan implicated himself in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
In 2009, fighting between feuding families broke out at a wedding in southeast Turkey, with combatants using guns and grenades, leading to the deaths of 44 people, including the bride and groom.
In 2011, rival Palestinian political factions Hamas and Fatah signed a reconciliation accord, citing as common causes opposition to the Israeli occupation and disillusionment with U.S. peace efforts.
In 2013, a limousine carrying 10 people caught fire on a bridge over San Francisco Bay. Five women were killed.
A thought for the day: Michel de Montaigne said, "There is no conversation more boring than the one where everybody agrees."
