- 1782: George Washington created the Purple Heart decoration to
                  acknowledge merit.
                - 1789: Congress created the Department Of War and the Lighthouse
                  Service.
                - 1802: Napoleon reinstated slavery on Haiti.
                - 1876: Infamous spy Mata Hari (real name: Gertrude Zelle) was born
                  (executed in Paris in 1917).
                - 1882: The famous family feud between West Virginia's Hatfields and
                  Kentucky's McCoys broke out. When it ended, 100 men, women and
                  children had been killed or wounded.
                - 1888: Theophilus Van Kannel patented his revolving door.
                - 1903: Louis Leakey, anthropologist/archaeologist was born. Leakey
                  found human bones in Africa proving man was older than believed (d:
                  1972).
                - 1904: A train derailed on a bridge in Eden, Colo. during a flash
                  flood, killing 96.
                - 1909: The U.S. issued the first Lincoln penny.
                - 1934: The U.S. Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling,
                  stopping the government from banning the controversial James Joyce
                  novel, "Ulysses."
                - 1942: American forces landed at Guadalcanal, beginning the first
                  major allied offensive in the Pacific in World War II.
                - 1954: Charles Mahoney became the first U.S. black to be a full-time
                  U.N. delegate.
                - 1963: Jacqueline Kennedy gave birth to son Patrick, becoming the
                  first First Lady to have a baby since Grover Cleveland's wife.
                  Patrick died three days later.
                - 1964: Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, which gave
                  President Johnson extensive powers dealing with North Vietnamese
                  attacks on U.S. forces. Johnson issued a declaration of war.
                - 1976: Scientists said Viking 1 found strongest evidence yet of
                  possible life on Mars.
                - 1989: Congressman Mickey Leland, D-Texas, and 15 others died in a
                  plane crash in Ethiopia.

                *Happy Birthday*
                ----------------
                - David Duchovny, 38, actor, "The X-Files'" Agent Fox Mulder
                - Stan Freberg, 72, producer/comedy writer, winner of 21 Clios
                - Garrison Keillor, 56, humorist/author, creator of "A Prairie Home
                  Companion"
                - Don Larsen, 69, former MLB pitcher, pitched only perfect game in
                  World Series history on Oct. 8, 1956 (Yankees 2, Brooklyn 0).
                - Alan Page, 53, NFL defensive legend/lawyer, 6-time NFL All-Pro and
                  1971 Player of the Year for Minnesota Vikings, elected to Minnesota
                  Supreme Court in 1992
                - Alberto Salazar, 40, distance runner
                - B.J. Thomas, 56, singer, "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head"