- 480 BC: King Leonidas of Sparta and 1,000 Greeks were beaten by
                  the Persians at the battle of Thermopylae.
                - 1790: The Columbia returned to Boston after a three-year journey,
                  the first ship to carry the American flag around the world.
                - 1830: Louis-Philippe formally accepted the crown of France,
                  following the abdication of Charles X.
                - 1842: The Webster-Ashburton Treaty between the U.S. and Britain
                  was signed, establishing the boundary between the U.S. and Canada
                  from Maine to the Great Lakes.
                - 1854: Henry David Thoreau published "Walden," his experiences
                  living in a small cabin near Walden Pond.
                - 1862: Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson defeated the Union army
                  in the Battle of Cedar Mountain in Virginia.
                - 1902: Edward VII was crowned King of Great Britain and Ireland at
                  Westminster Abbey after the death of Queen Victoria.
                - 1910: Alva Fisher patented the electric washing machine.
                - 1942: Mahatma Gandhi and 50 others were arrested in Bombay after
                  the passing of a "quit India" campaign by the All-India Congress.
                - 1944: Smokey Bear made his debut as spokesbear for fire prevention.
                - 1945: The United States dropped a second atomic bomb on the
                  Japanese city of Nagasaki, reducing a wide area of the city to
                  ashes and killing an estimated 74,000 people.
                - 1961: James B. Parsons became the first black appointed to the
                  U.S. District Court.
                - 1965: Singapore became an independent republic after seceding from
                  Malaysia.
                - 1969: Actress Sharon Tate, wife of film director Roman Polanski,
                  was found brutally murdered along with four others at their house
                  in Beverly Hills, Calif. Cult leader Charles Manson and his
                  disciples were later convicted of the crime.
                - 1974: Gerald Ford was sworn in as 38th president of the United
                  States after the resignation of Richard Nixon became effective.
                - 1995: The Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia died of a heart attack in
                  California, a week after his 53rd birthday.

                *Happy Birthday*
                ----------------
                - Gillian Anderson, 30, actress, "The X-Files" Dana Sculley
                - Amanda Bearse, 40, actress/director, "Married With Children"
                - Bob Cousy, 70, former NBA Guard career 16,960 points
                - Sam Elliott, 54, actor
                - Melanie Griffith, 41, actress, "Working Girl"
                - Whitney Houston, 35, singer/actress
                - Brett Hull, 34, NHL right wing
                - Rod Laver, 60, tennis player, first player to win the Grand Slam
                  twice, Wimbledon champion 4 times
                - Ken Norton, 53, boxer, WBC heavyweight champ in 1978
                - Deion Sanders, 31, pro football/baseball player
                - John Smith, 33, wrestler, 3-time world champion