- 1620: Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower went ashore for the first time
at present-day Plymouth, Mass.
- 1898: Scientists Pierre and Marie Curie discovered radium.
- 1909: The first junior high school was established in Berkeley,
Calif.
- 1913: The first crossword puzzle was published in the Sunday
supplement of the New York World with 32 clues.
- 1914: "Tillie's Punctured Romance," the first six-reel
feature-length comedy, made its debut.
- 1929: The first group hospital insurance plan was offered in Dallas.
- 1932: Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers graced the silver screen
together for the first time when "Flying Down to Rio" premiered.
- 1933: Fox signed Shirley Temple, 5, to a studio contract.
- 1937: "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," the first feature-length
cartoon with color and sound, made its world premiere.
- 1941: Ray McLean of the Chicago Bears made the last NFL drop kick
for an extra point.
- 1945: Gen. George S. Patton died in Heidelberg, Germany, of
injuries from a car accident.
- 1946: Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life," starring James Stewart
and Donna Reed, premiered.
- 1948: The state of Eire (formerly the Irish Free State) declared
its independence.
- 1951: Joe DiMaggio announced his retirement.
- 1959: Tom Landry accepted a coaching job with the Dallas Cowboys,
which would lead to 22 consecutive winning seasons in 29 years.
- 1968: Apollo 8 was launched from Cape Kennedy with crew Frank
Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders. The mission would result
in mankind's first orbit of the moon; David Crosby, Stephen Stills
and Graham Nash premiered together in California.
- 1969: Diana Ross made her final TV appearance as a member of the
Supremes on "The Ed Sullivan Show."
- 1969: Vince Lombardi coached his last football game as his team,
the Washington Redskins, lost to the Dallas Cowboys, 20-10.
- 1978: John W. Gacy Jr. was arrested in Des Plaines, Ill. He was
eventually convicted of killing 33 men and boys.
- 1983: The NCAA men's basketball rules committee rescinded the last
two-minute free throw rule.
- 1988: 270 people were killed when a terrorist bomb exploded aboard
a Pan Am Boeing 747 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Efforts to extradite
the two suspected bombers from Libya are ongoing.
- 1991: Soviet Union was formally dissolved. Eleven of the twelve
republics signed a treaty forming the Commonwealth of Independent
States.
*Happy Birthday*
----------------
- Tina Brown, 45, media mogul, former editor of "The New Yorker"
- Julie Delpy, 29, actress, "Killing Zoe," "White"
- Andy Dick, 33, actor, "NewsRadio"
- Phil Donahue, 63, talk show host
- Chris Evert, 44, tennis player
- Jane Fonda, 61, actress
- Gabrielle Glaser, 33, musician
- Khrystyne Haje, 30, actress, "Head of the Class"
- Samuel L. Jackson, 50, actor, "Pulp Fiction"
- Joe Paterno, 72, college football coach
- Ray Romano, 41, actor/comedian, "Everybody Loves Raymond"
- Kiefer Sutherland, 32, actor, "Young Guns"
- Kurt Waldheim, 80, former Austrian president and former UN
Secretary-General
- Carl Wilson, 52, singer/guitarist, The Beach Boys
- Paul Winchell, 76, cartoon voice actor, "Winnie the Pooh,"
"Dastardly and Muttly"