- 1431: King Henry VI of England was crowned king of France.
                     - 1653: Oliver Cromwell, leader of the Parliamentary side in the
                       English civil war, was declared Lord Protector of England.
                     - 1770: Composer Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany.
                     - 1773: The Boston Tea Party took place off Griffin's Wharf, a
                       protest against Britain's taxation of colonists in Massachusetts.
                     - 1775: English novelist Jane Austen was born.
                     - 1809: Napoleon Bonaparte was divorced from the Empress Josephine by
                       an act of the French Senate.
                     - 1905: The entertainment trade publication "Variety" came out with
                       its first weekly issue.
                     - 1907: Eugene H. Farrar became the first singer to broadcast on
                       radio. He sang from the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York.
                     - 1912: The first postage stamp to depict an airplane was issued. It
                       was a 20-cent parcel post stamp.
                     - 1913: Charlie Chaplin began his film career at Keystone for $150 a
                       week.
                     - 1915: Albert Einstein published his "General Theory of Relativity."
                     - 1916: Gregory Rasputin, the monk who had wielded powerful influence
                       over the Russian court, was murdered by a group of noblemen.
                     - 1920: One of the deadliest earthquakes in history occurred in Gansu
                       province, China. Estimated at over 8 points on the Richter scale,
                       it killed 180,000 people.
                     - 1944: German forces launched the Battle of the Bulge when they
                       broke through the allied lines in the rugged Ardennes region,
                       taking U.S. troops by surprise.
                     - 1953: The first White House Press Conference was held with
                       President Eisenhower and is attended by 161 reporters.
                     - 1966: Jimi Hendrix Experience released its first single, "Hey Joe,"
                       in the U.K.
                     - 1969: The British House of Commons voted 343-185 to approve the
                       permanent abolition of the death penalty.
                     - 1971: Don McLean's eight-minute-plus version of "American Pie" was
                       released and became one of the longest songs to ever hit the pop
                       charts.
                     - 1979: Quarterback Roger Staubach played in his last regular season
                       game with the Dallas Cowboys.
                     - 1983: A spokesperson for The Who announced that the group was
                       disbanding.
                     - 1988: Political cult leader Lyndon LaRouche was convicted of tax
                       and mail fraud.
                     - 1990: Jean-Bertrand Aristide was elected president of Haiti in the
                       country's first democratic elections.

                     *Happy Birthday*
                     ----------------
                     - Stephen Bochco, 55, TV producer, "L.A. Law," "NYPD Blue"
                     - Elaine Boosler, 46, comedienne
                     - Benjamin Bratt, 35, actor, "Law & Order"
                     - Arthur C. Clarke, 81, science fiction writer
                     - Ben Cross, 51, actor, "Chariots of Fire"
                     - Billy Gibbons, 49, singer/guitarist, ZZ Top
                     - Terence Knox, 48, actor
                     - Alison LaPlaca, 39, actress, "Friends," "The John Larroquette Show"
                     - Michael McCary, 27, singer, Boyz II Men
                     - William "The Refrigerator" Perry, 36, former NFL defensive tackle
                     - Billy Ripken, 34, MLB second baseman
                     - Lesley Stahl, 57, newscaster/correspondent, CBS
                     - Liv Ullmann, 59, actress