- 1620: The Mayflower Compact was signed by the Pilgrims in Cape Cod.
                - 1783: Jean Francois Pilatre de Rozier and the Marquis Francois
                  Laurant d'Arlandes made the first flight in a balloon on this day,
                  thus becoming the first men to fly.
                - 1789: North Carolina became the 12th state of the original 13 to
                  ratify the U.S. Constitution.
                - 1852: Duke University, founded in 1838 as Union Institute, was
                  chartered in Randolph County, N.C., as Normal College. It was
                  renamed in 1924.
                - 1871: The cigar lighter was patented by Moses F. Gale of New York.
                - 1871: The first human cannonball, Emilio Onra, was shot.
                - 1877: Inventor Thomas A. Edison announced the invention of his
                  phonograph.
                - 1902: Baseball's Philadelphia Athletics and the Philadelphia
                  Phillies formed professional football teams, joining the Pittsburgh
                  Stars in the first attempt at a pro football league, named the
                  National Football League.
                - 1922: Rebecca L. Felton of Georgia was sworn in as the first woman
                  to serve as a member of the U.S. Senate.
                - 1935: The China Clipper became the first commercial plane to cross
                  the Pacific Ocean.
                - 1938: Nazi forces occupied western Czechoslovakia and declared its
                  people German citizens.
                - 1942: Tweety Bird, a.k.a. Tweety Pie, debuted in "Tale of Two
                  Kitties."
                - 1952: The first U.S. postage stamp in two colors was introduced.
                - 1963: President John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline, arrived
                  in San Antonio to begin a two-day tour of Texas.
                - 1973: President Richard M. Nixon's attorney, J. Fred Buzhardt,
                  revealed the presence of an 18 1/2 minute gap in one of the White
                  House tape recordings related to Watergate.
                - 1974: The Freedom of Information Act was passed by Congress over
                  President Ford's veto.
                - 1980: Eighty-seven people died in a fire at the MGM Grand
                  Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
                - 1980: An estimated 83 million viewers tuned in to CBS' Dallas to
                  watch "Who Shot J.R.?"
                - 1989: A law banning smoking on most domestic flights was signed by
                  President Bush.
                - 1992: Oregon Sen. Bob Packwood issued an apology but refused to
                  discuss allegations that he had made unwelcome sexual advances
                  toward 10 women over the years.

                *Happy Birthday*
                ----------------
                - Troy Aikman, 32, Dallas Cowboys quarterback
                - Bjork, 33, singer
                - Tina Brown, 45, former "New Yorker" editor
                - Marcia "Marcy" Carsey, 54 TV executive/producer
                - Dr. John, 57, New Orleans musician
                - Ken Griffey Jr., 29, Seattle Mariners center fielder
                - Goldie Hawn, 53, actress
                - Lorna Luft, 46, actress/singer
                - Stan Musial, 78, MLB left fielder, Hall of Famer
                - Harold Ramis, 54, actor/director/writer, "Groundhog Day,"
                  "Ghostbusters" films
                - Nicollette Sheridan, 35, actress, "The Sure Thing"
                - Marlo Thomas, 62, actress, "That Girl"