- 1521: Martin Luther was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic
                       Church.
                     - 1777: George Washington defeated the British under Lord Cornwallis
                       at the Battle of Princeton.
                     - 1833: Britain seized control of the Falkland Islands in the South
                       Atlantic.
                     - 1847: The California town of Yerba Buena was renamed San Francisco.
                     - 1868: The Meiji Restoration re-established the authority of Japan's
                       emperor and spelled the end of the military rulers known as
                       "shoguns."
                     - 1888: The first wax drinking straw was patented by Marvin C. Stone
                       in Washington, D.C.
                     - 1892: J.R.R. Tolkien, British author of "The Hobbit" and "The Lord
                       of the Rings," was born.
                     - 1920: Boston Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold pitcher-outfielder
                       Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for $125,000 plus a $350,000
                       loan. The loan was used to turn the play "No, No, Nannette" into a
                       hit.
                     - 1924: British egyptologist Howard Carter found the sarcophagus of
                       Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings near Luxor.
                     - 1938: The March of Dimes campaign to fight polio was organized.
                     - 1947: William Dawson became the first black to head a congressional
                       committee; Congressional proceedings were televised for the first
                       time as viewers in Washington, Philadelphia and New York got to see
                       some of the opening ceremonies of the 80th Congress.
                     - 1952: "Dragnet" premiered on NBC.
                     - 1957: The first electric watch was introduced in Lancaster, Pa.,
                       by the Hamilton Watch Company.
                     - 1959: Alaska became the 49th state to be admitted to the United
                       States.
                     - 1961: The United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba
                       after Fidel Castro announced he was a communist.
                     - 1967: Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys refused to be sworn in after
                       receiving a U.S. Army draft notice, saying he was a conscientious
                       objector.
                     - 1967: Jack Ruby, who shot Lee Harvey Oswald before he could be
                       tried for the assassination of President Kennedy, died in a
                       hospital.
                     - 1973: A 12-member group headed by George Steinbrenner bought the
                       New York Yankees from the Columbia Broadcasting System for a
                       reported $10-12 million.
                     - 1977: Apple Computers was incorporated.
                     - 1980: Joy Adamson, Austrian-born British naturalist and writer
                       famous for the book "Born Free" about her work with lions, was
                       found murdered in Kenya.
                     - 1987: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted its first female
                       artist: Aretha Franklin.
                     - 1989: Russian newspaper Izvestia printed its first commercial
                       advertisement.
                     - 1990: In Panama, deposed leader Manuel Antonio Noriega surrendered
                       to U.S. authorities after spending 10 days under siege in the
                       Vatican embassy.
                     - 1997: Bryant Gumbel co-hosted his final "Today" show on NBC.

                     *Happy Birthday*
                     ----------------
                     - Victor Borge, 90, comedian/pianist
                     - Dabney Coleman, 67, actor, "Tootsie"
                     - Jim Everett, 36, NFL quarterback
                     - Mel Gibson, 43, actor/director
                     - Bobby Hull, 60, former NHL forward
                     - John Paul Jones, 53, musician, Led Zeppelin
                     - Robert Loggia, 69, actor, "Independence Day"
                     - Sir George Martin, 73, Beatles' music producer
                     - Danica McKellar, 24, actress, "The Wonder Years"
                     - Victoria Principal, 49, actress
                     - Stephen Stills, 54, singer/musician
                     - Shannon Sturges, 31, actress, "Savannah"