Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include Jean-Henri Dunant, Swiss founder of the Red Cross Society and a co-founder of the Young Men's Christian Association, in 1828; Harry Truman, 33rd president of the United States, in 1884; Hall of Fame baseball player Edd Roush in 1893; Fulton J. Sheen, Roman Catholic bishop and broadcaster, in 1895; Nobel Prize-winning Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek in 1899; cornetist and bandleader Red Nichols in 1905; pianist Mary Lou Williams in 1910; blues guitarist Robert Johnson in 1911; author, broadcaster and naturalist David Attenborough and comedian Don Rickles, both in 1926 (age 88); former heavyweight boxing champion Sonny Liston in 1932; actor/singer Rick Nelson and author Peter Benchley in 1940; singer Toni Tennille, also in 1940, (age 74); English rock singer Gary Glitter in 1944 (age 70; Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Alex Van Halen in 1953 (age 61); actors David Keith in 1954 (age 60), Stephen Furst in 1955 (age 59) and Melissa Gilbert in 1964 (age 50); and Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias in 1975 (age 39).
On this date in history:
In 1541, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto discovered the Mississippi River.
In 1879, George Selden of Rochester, N.Y., filed for the first patent for an automobile.( It was granted in 1895.)
In 1945, U.S. President Harry Truman officially declared V-E Day, the end of World War II in Europe.
In 1970, "Let It Be," the Beatles' final original album, was released.
In 1972, U.S. President Richard Nixon ordered the mining of North Vietnam ports in an effort to force the communists to end the Vietnam War.
In 1984, the Soviet Union declared it wouldn't take part in the Los Angeles Olympics, citing fears about security for its athletes. The decision came four years after the United States team boycotted the Games in Moscow.
In 1991, to pressure the government of El Salvador into agreeing to a cease-fire, Salvadoran leftist guerrillas sabotaged a power system, leaving the country with half its normal electrical supply.
In 1996, South Africa voted for a new constitution. Its bill of rights included the right to food, housing and education.
In 2002, Cardinal Bernard Law of the Boston Roman Catholic archdiocese said he had known in 1984 about sexual-abuse charges against a former priest but had turned the matter over to aides and never followed up. The ex-priest, John Geoghan, was accused in 86 sexual-abuse cases.
In 2003, more than 100 people were reported killed after the rear door of a cargo jet suddenly opened at a height of 33,000 feet over the Democratic Republic of the Congo and passengers were sucked out of the plane. Many occupants managed to stay in the aircraft until it landed at an airport.
In 2006, Lillian Asplund, the last known U.S. survivor of the 1912 sinking of the Titanic, died of natural causes at her Shrewsbury, Mass., home. She was 99.
In 2007, Northern Ireland installed a new power-sharing government linking Catholic and Protestant parties.
In 2008, North Korea gave U.S. officials about 18,000 pages of documents detailing its efforts to reprocess plutonium for nuclear weapons.
In 2011, a senior al-Qaida suspect being moved from his Baghdad cell for questioning grabbed a jailer's gun and set off a 6-hour battle that left at least 14 people dead, including the inmate.
In 2012, Richard Lugar, a U.S. senator for 36 years, was defeated by conservative Richard Mourdock in Indiana's Republican primary election.
In 2013, Jodi Arias was convicted of first-degree murder in a trial that became a cable TV and tabloid sensation.
A thought for the day: "The heart was made to be broken.” -- Oscar Wilde
