- 1583: Sir Humphrey Gilbert founded the first English colony in
                  North America at St. John's in Newfoundland.
                - 1858: The first transatlantic cable was completed enabling
                  telegraphic communication between the U.S. and Britain. The
                  service ended Sept. 1 because the current was too weak.
                - 1861: President Lincoln signed the first federal government income
                  tax; the Army abolished flogging.
                - 1864: Union forces under Admiral David Farragut defeated the
                  Confederates at the Battle of Mobile Bay (Ala.) in the Civil War.
                - 1884: The cornerstone of the Statue of Liberty was laid on Bedloe's
                  Island in New York harbor.
                - 1914: Montenegro declared war against Austria-Hungary in World
                  War I. Cuba, Uruguay, Mexico and Argentina all proclaimed their
                  neutrality.
                - 1915: Warsaw, evacuated by the Russians, was occupied by the
                  Germans.
                - 1924: The comic strip "Little Orphan Annie" made its debut.
                - 1945: The United States dropped the atom bomb on Hiroshima.
                - 1949: Ecuador was struck by an earthquake measuring 6.75 on the
                  Richter scale. Six thousand people were killed and 100,000 were
                  made homeless.
                - 1953: "Operation Big Switch" -- the exchange of prisoners of war
                  between the United Nations Command and the Chinese and North
                  Koreans -- took place at Panmunjom, Korea.
                - 1957: The comic strip "Andy Capp" made its debut.
                - 1962: Nelson Mandela was arrested and charged with incitement.
                - 1962: Marilyn Monroe, 35, was found dead in her Brentwood home,
                  officially the victim of a barbiturate overdose.
                - 1963: A Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was signed in Moscow by Russia,
                  the United States and Britain.
                - 1973: Arab terrorists open fire at Athens airport, killing three
                  and injuring 55.
                - 1974: President Nixon admitted he had withheld information about
                  the Watergate break-in and announced his resignation three days
                  later.
                - 1984: Actor Richard Burton, 60, died in Geneva.

                *Happy Birthday*
                ----------------
                - Loni Anderson, 53, actress, "WKRP in Cincinnati"
                - Neil Armstrong, 68, astronaut, first man on the moon
                - Ja'net DuBois, 60, actress "Good Times"
                - Patrick Ewing, 36, NBA center, New York Knicks
                - Maureen McCormick, 42, actress, "The Brady Bunch"
                - Jonathan Silverman, 32, actor, "The Single Guy"
                - Erika Slezak, 53, actress, "One Life to Live"
                - M.C.A., 34, musician, (real name: Adam Yauch)  Beastie Boys