- 1492: Christopher Columbus spotted land after crossing the Atlantic
                  Ocean. He was off the coast of the Bahamas.
                - 1521: Pope Leo X gave King Henry VIII of England the title of
                  "Defender of the Faith" following the publication of his book
                  against Martin Luther.
                - 1737: An earthquake destroyed half of Calcutta, India, killing
                  300,000.
                - 1776: Brig. Gen. Benedict Arnold, with a force of 15 gunboats,
                  attempted to block the British from New York at the battle of
                  Valcour Island.
                - 1864: Maryland abolished slavery.
                - 1868: Thomas Edison patented his electrical vote recorder.
                - 1871: The Great Chicago Fire was finally extinguished after three
                  days. About 300 people were killed and 90,000 were made homeless.
                  Damage was estimated at over $200 million.
                - 1881: David Houston patented the roll film for cameras.
                - 1922: The first female FBI agent was appointed.
                - 1939: Albert Einstein and other U.S. scientists informed President
                  Roosevelt of the possibilities of developing an atomic bomb.
                - 1962: Pope John XXIII opened the Second Vatican Council in St.
                  Peter's Basilica in Rome - the first meeting of the council since
                  1869-70.
                - 1975: Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham were married.
                - 1976: In China, Mao Zedong's widow Jiang Qing and three others, the
                  "Gang of Four," were arrested and charged with plotting a coup.
                - 1979: Allan McLeod Cormack and Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield were
                  awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine for developing the CAT scan.
                - 1984: Challenger astronaut Dr. Kathy Sullivan became the first
                  American female to walk in space.
                - 1990: Mexico's Octavio Paz was awarded the Nobel Prize for
                  literature.

                *Happy Birthday*
                ----------------
                - Art Blakey, 79, jazz drummer
                - Maria Bueno, 59, tennis player
                - Joan Cusack, 36, actress, "Married to the Mob," "In & Out"
                - Sean Patrick Flanery, 33, actor, "Young Indiana Jones," "Powder"
                - Elmore Leonard, 73, writer, "Glitz," "Touch," "52 Pick-Up"
                - Ty Murray, 29, rodeo cowboy
                - Luke Perry, 32, actor, "Beverly Hills 90210's" Dylan McKay
                - Roy Scheider, 63, actor, NFL quarterback