- 1272: King Henry III of England, who had ruled since 1216, died and
                 was succeeded by his son Edward I.
               - 1764: The Native Americans surrendered to the British in the Indian
                 War of Chief Pontiac.
               - 1776: British troops captured Fort Washington during the American
                 Revolution.
               - 1811: An earthquake in Missouri caused the Mississippi River to
                 flow backwards.
               - 1824: New York City's Fifth Avenue opened for business.
               - 1841: Napoleon Guerin patents his life preservers made of cork.
               - 1875: Dr. William Gibson Arlington Bonwill of Philadelphia, Pa.,
                 patented the dental mallet used to impact gold into cavities.
               - 1907: Oklahoma became the 46th state of the Union.
               - 1914: Federal Reserve System formally opened.
               - 1920: The first postage stamp meter is set in Stamford, Conn.
               - 1925: American Association for the Advancement of Atheism formed in
                 New York.
               - 1926: The New York Rangers play their first game and beat the
                 Montreal Maroons, 1-0.
               - 1955: Johnny Cash made his first chart appearance with "Cry Cry
                 Cry."
               - 1959: The Rodgers & Hammerstein musical "The Sound of Music"
                 premiered in New York.
               - 1962: Kuwait adopted a constitution.
               - 1963: The touch-tone telephone was introduced.
               - 1965: The Soviet Union launched its Venus III spacecraft, the first
                 spacecraft to land on another planet.
               - 1965: Walt Disney launched Epcot Center.
               - 1969: The 1968 massacre of hundreds of civilians at Mylai, South
                 Vietnam, by U.S. forces is first reported.
               - 1973: Skylab 3, carrying a crew of three American astronauts, was
                 launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on an 84-day mission.
               - 1973: President Nixon signed the Alaska Pipeline measure into law,
                 authorizing construction of the Alaskan pipeline.
               - 1974: First intentional interstellar radio message sent toward
                 M 41, a cluster of stars some 25,000 light years away.
               - 1981: In a daytime ratings bonanza, the first part of the Luke and
                 Laura wedding on "General Hospital" aired on ABC; 16 million
                 viewers tuned in.
               - 1982: The Space Shuttle Columbia completes its first operational
                 flight.
               - 1989: South African President F.W. de Klerk announced the scrapping
                 of the Separate Amenities Act, opening up the country's beaches to
                 all races.

                *Happy Birthday*
               -----------------
               - Oksana Baiul, 21, Olympic gold medal figure skater
               - Lisa Bonet, 31, actress, "The Cosby Show," "Angel Heart"
               - Chuck Finley, 36, MLB Pitcher
               - Zina Garrison-Jackson, 35, tennis Player,
               - Dwight Gooden, 34, MLB Pitcher, Cy Young Award winner
               - Marg Helgenberger, 40, actress, "China Beach"
               - David Leisure, 48, actor
               - Martha Plimpton, 28, actress