Those born on this date are under the sign of Gemini. They include Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus, the father of modern systematic botany, in 1707; Austrian physician and hypnotist Franz Mesmer in 1734; social reformer Sarah Margaret Fuller in 1810; U.S. Army Gen. Ambrose Burnside, who later was a U.S. senator and for whom sideburns were named, in 1824; actor Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in 1883; baseball Hall of Fame member Zack Wheat in 1888; musician/actor Scatman Crothers and clarinetist/bandleader Artie Shaw, both in 1910; singers Helen O'Connell in 1920 and Rosemary Clooney in 1928; actors Barbara Barrie in 1931 (age 83) and Joan Collins in 1933 (age 81); Robert Moog, inventor of the Moog Synthesizer, in 1934; tennis Hall of Fame member John Newcombe in 1944 (age 70); writer Mitch Albom and comedian Drew Carey, both in 1958 (age 56); singer Jewel Kilcher and "Jeopardy!" champion Ken Jennings, both in 1974 (age 40).
On this date in history:
In 1701, Capt. William Kidd was hanged in London for piracy and murder.
In 1788, South Carolina became the eighth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
In 1829, Cyrill Demian was granted a patent for his musical instrument called the accordion.
In 1900, U.S. Army Sgt. William H. Carney became the first African-American to be awarded the Medal of Honor. He was cited for his efforts during the Civil War battle of Fort Wagner, S.C., in June 1863.
In 1939, the U.S. Navy submarine "Squalus" went down off New Hampshire in 240 feet of water. Thirty-three of the 59 men aboard were saved in a daring rescue with a diving bell.
In 1960, Israeli agents captured Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in Argentina and spirited him to Israel. (He was tried, convicted and hanged.)
In 1991, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld federal regulations prohibiting federally funded women's clinics from discussing or advising abortion with patients.
In 1994, former U.S. first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was laid to rest next to her first husband, President John F. Kennedy, in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
In 1997, Mohammed Khatami, who favored improved economic ties with the West, was elected president of Iran.
In 2009, former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, 62, linked to a corruption investigation, died in an apparent suicidal leap from a cliff.
In 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that California's overcrowded prisons violated the Eighth Amendment banning "cruel and unusual punishment."
In 2012, U.S. Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan apologized for a prostitution scandal involving 12 of his agents in Colombia but said national security hadn't been compromised. Investigators said the agents, on a security detail in advance of a visit by U.S. President Barack Obama, had taken women to their hotel rooms.
In 2013, the Boy Scouts of America ended a century-old ban on openly gay scouts but still prohibited gay adult scout leaders.
A thought for the day: "One man practicing sportsmanship is far better than 50 preaching it." -- Knute Rockne
- Topics
- Adolf Eichmann
- Ambrose Burnside
- Arlington National Cemetery
- Artie Shaw
- Barack Obama
- Douglas Fairbanks
- Fort Wagner
- Franz Mesmer
- Helen O'Connell
- Kennedy Assassination
- Ken Jennings
- Knute Rockne
- Margaret Fuller
- Mark Sullivan
- Mitch Albom
- Roh Moo
- Roh Moo-Hyun
- William H. Carney
- Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
- Supreme Court
