Those born on this date are under the sign of Gemini. They include British clergyman John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, in 1703; John Robert Gregg, inventor of the Gregg shorthand system, in 1867; Russian-born composer Igor Stravinsky in 1882; Dutch artist M.C. Escher in 1898; actor Ralph Bellamy in 1904; author John Hersey in 1914; football Hall of Fame member Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch in 1923; Egyptian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mohamed ElBaradei in 1942 (age 72); former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and singer Barry Manilow, both in 1943 (age 71); musician-songwriter George Clinton in 1947 (age 67); comedian Joe Piscopo in 1951 (age 63); actors Mark Linn-Baker in 1954 (age 60), Thomas Haden Church in 1960 (age 54), Greg Kinnear in 1963 (age 51), Jason Patric in 1966 (age 48) and Will Forte in 1970 (age 44); Olympic gold medal speed skater Dan Jansen in 1965 (age 49); and tennis star Venus Williams in 1980 (age 34).
On this date in history:
In 1967, China announced it had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb.
In 1972, the Watergate scandal began with the arrest of five burglars inside Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington.
In 1982, Argentina's President Leopoldo Galtieri resigned in response to Britain's victory in the Falkland Islands war.
In 1986, Kate Smith, one of America's most popular singers in the 1920s, '30s and '40s, died at the age of 79.
In 1996, ValuJet Airlines shut down about a month after a crash in the Florida Everglades led to questions about the carrier's safety and maintenance records.
In 2003, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien promised legislation that would legalize same-sex marriage throughout the country.
In 2009, in a speech to the American Medical Association, U.S. President Barack Obama warned that without action on healthcare reform "the rolls of the uninsured will swell to include millions more Americans."
In 2011, Ayman al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian surgeon and co-founder of al-Qaida, moved up to assume leadership of the terrorist network six weeks after U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden.
In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Arizona's requirement of proof of citizenship before voter registration violated federal law.
A thought for the day: "We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools." -- Martin Luther King Jr.
- Topics
- Ayman al-Zawahiri
- Barack Obama
- Barry Manilow
- Dan Jansen
- Falkland Islands
- George Clinton
- Greg Kinnear
- Healthcare Reform
- Igor Stravinsky
- Jason Patric
- Jean Chretien
- Joe Piscopo
- John Hersey
- John Wesley
- Kate Smith
- Leopoldo Galtieri
- Mark Linn-Baker
- Martin Luther King Jr.
- Newt Gingrich
- Osama bin Laden
- Ralph Bellamy
- Venus Williams
- Supreme Court
- Will Forte
