- 1498: Cardinal Borgia renounced his vows and office to marry a
                 French princess.
               - 1807: Robert Fulton's steam boat made its way up the Hudson River
                 on its round-trip from New York City to Albany.
               - 1835: Solymon Merrick patented the wrench.
               - 1859: The first air mail (in a balloon) took off from Lafayette,
                 Ind.
               - 1870: Esther Morris became the first woman magistrate when she was
                 appointed Justice of the Peace in South Pass, Wyo.
               - 1891: An electric self-starter for the automobile was patented.
               - 1893: Actress Mae West was born in Brooklyn, New York.
               - 1903: Joseph Pulitzer donated $1 million to Columbia University and
                 the donation began the Pulitzer Prizes.
               - 1917: Italy declared war on Germany and Turkey.
               - 1940: President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Canadian Prime Minister
                 William Mackenzie King set up a joint commission for defense;
                 Hitler ordered a complete blockade of Great-Britain.
               - 1943: Gen. Patton and his troops entered Messina, completing the
                 conquest of Sicily by the Allies.
               - 1945: Korea was divided on the 38th parallel with the U.S.
                 occupying the southern area.
               - 1950: Indonesia gained independence from the Netherlands.
               - 1969: Hurricane Camille killed 248 people when it hit the
                 Mississippi Gulf coast.
               - 1976: An earthquake and tidal wave in the Philippines killed up
                 to 8,000.
               - 1990: Singer/actress Pearl Bailey, 72, died of heart attack.

               *Happy Birthday*
               ----------------
               - Belinda Carlisle, 40, singer, of the Go-Gos
               - Jim Courier, 28, tennis player, former No. 1
               - Robert De Niro, 55, actor, "Taxi Driver," "Untouchables," "Raging
                 Bull," "Cape Fear," "Cop Land"
               - Christian Laettner, 29, NBA forward
               - Maureen O'Hara, 78, actress, "Parent Trap"
               - Sean Penn, 38, actor, "Dead Man Walking"
               - Nelson Piquet, 46, auto racer/Brazilian politico