- 1547: King Henry VIII of England died at 55 and was succeeded by
                       his 9-year-old son, Edward VI.
                     - 1807: London's Pall Mall became the first street lit by gaslight.
                     - 1851: Northwestern University was chartered in Evanston, Ill., as
                       North Western University.
                     - 1858: John Brown organized the raid on the arsenal at Harper's
                       Ferry.
                     - 1878: The first daily college newspaper, the "Yale News," began
                       publication in New Haven, Conn.
                     - 1902: The Carnegie Institute was established in Washington, D.C.
                     - 1904: The first college sports letters were given out. Seniors who
                       played on the University of Chicago's football team were awarded
                       blankets with the letter "C" on them.
                     - 1914: The town of Beverly Hills, Calif., was incorporated.
                     - 1915: The Coast Guard was created by an act of Congress.
                     - 1916: Louis D. Brandeis was appointed by President Woodrow Wilson
                       to the U.S. Supreme Court, becoming its first Jewish member.
                     - 1922: The American Pro Football Association was renamed the
                       National Football League.
                     - 1932: The first U.S. state unemployment insurance act was enacted
                       in Wisconsin.
                     - 1934: The first rope ski tow went into operation in Woodstock, Vt.
                     - 1935: Iceland became the first country to legalize abortion.
                     - 1951: "La Vie Commence Demain," which depicted artificial
                       insemination and was the first X-rated movie, opened in London.
                     - 1958: Brooklyn Dodger catcher Roy Campanella's career ended when he
                       lost control of his car on a slick highway. He became a parapalegic
                       and was confined to a wheelchair the remainder of his life.
                     - 1965: The Who made their first appearance on British TV's celebrated
                       "Ready Steady Go" show.
                     - 1978: "Fantasy Island," starring Ricardo Montalban and Herve
                       Villechaize, debuted on ABC.
                     - 1985: A host of pop and rock stars assembled in a Los Angeles
                       studio to record the song "We Are The World" following the American
                       Music Awards.
                     - 1986: The space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after
                       liftoff from Cape Canaveral, killing all seven crew members. The
                       cause was later found to be failure of a booster rocket O-rings
                       because of the cold weather.

                     *Happy Birthday*
                     ----------------
                     - Alan Alda, 63, actor, "M*A*S*H"
                     - Barbi Benton, 49, actress/singer, "Hee Haw"
                     - Nick Carter, 19, singer, Backstreet Boys
                     - Harley Jane Kozak, 42, actress, "Parenthood"
                     - Sarah McLachlan, 31, folk singer
                     - Sam Phillips, 37, singer/actress, "Die Hard with a Vengeance"
                     - Nick Price, 42, golfer
                     - Susan Sontag, 66, novelist
                     - Elijah Wood, 18, actor, "The Ice Storm"