Those born on this day are under the sign of Leo. They include English author and angler Izaak Walton in 1593; French architect Pierre Charles L'Enfant, designer of the District of Columbia, in 1754; pioneer Swiss child psychologist Jean Piaget in 1896; violinist Zino Francescatti in 1902; English actor/playwright Robert Shaw in 1927; basketball Hall of Fame member Bob Cousy in 1928 (age 86); Australian tennis star Rod Laver in 1938 (age 76); comedian David Steinberg in 1942 (age 72); heavyweight boxer Ken Norton in 1943; actors Sam Elliott in 1944 (age70), Melanie Griffith in 1957 (age 57) and Amanda Bearse in 1958 (age 56); pop singer Whitney Houston in 1963; hockey Hall of Fame member Brett Hull in 1964 (age 50); football Hall of Fame member Deion Sanders in 1967 (age 47); and actors Gillian Anderson and Eric Bana, both in 1968 (age 46).
On this date in history:
In 1854, "Walden" was published by Henry David Thoreau.
In 1936, American track star Jesse Owens won his fourth Olympic gold medal in Berlin.
In 1945, a U.S. B-29 bomber dropped an atomic bomb nicknamed "Fat Man" on the Japanese city of Nagasaki three days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
In 1969, actress Sharon Tate and four other people were slain in Los Angeles by followers of Charles Manson in the first of two nights of murders.
In 1974, U.S. President Richard Nixon's resignation became effective at noon and Vice President Gerald Ford was sworn in as the nation's 38th chief executive.
In 1991, Vietnamese Prime Minister Do Muoi resigned. He was succeeded by Vo Van Kiet, who vowed to transform Vietnam into a market economy.
In 2001, U.S. President George W. Bush announced he would allow federal funding for limited stem cell research using human embryos.
In 2004, Terry Nichols was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole for his role in the 1995 Oklahoma City federal building bombing that killed 168 people.
In 2009, Typhoon Morakot slammed into Taiwan, with more than 80 inches of rain triggering floods and massive mudslides. The death toll was at least 500 and thousands of homes were destroyed.
In 2010, former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, a six-term Republican from Alaska, was killed with four others in the crash of a small plane in a remote area of his home state.
In 2011, the Obama administration announced the first fuel efficiency standards for heavy trucks, projected to save U.S. businesses that operate and own the commercial vehicles about $50 billion in fuel costs over thelife of the program.
In 2012, the U.S. Postal Service reported a $5.2 billion loss in the quarter ending June 30.
In 2013, Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis, 22, a Bangladeshi man who pleaded guilty to terrorism charges for trying to blow up the Federal Reserve Bank in New York City, was sentenced to 30 years in prison. "I'm ashamed," he said. "I'm lost. I tried to do a terrible thing. I alone am responsible for what I've done. Please forgive me."
A thought for the day: Elvis Presley said, "I get lonesome right in the middle of a crowd."
