- 1786: Harvard University organized the first astronomical
                  expedition in the U.S.
                - 1803: The Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase.
                - 1817: The first "Showboat" left Nashville to perform on the
                  Mississippi River.
                - 1818: By agreement between the United States and Britain, the
                  U.S.-Canadian border was set at the 49th parallel, with a joint
                  occupation of Oregon for 10 years.
                - 1820: Spain sold part of Florida to the U.S. for $5 million.
                - 1873: P.T. Barnum's Hippodrome, which featured "The Greatest Show
                  on Earth," opened.
                - 1882: Actor Bela Lugosi ("Dracula," "Plan 9 From Outer Space") was
                  born in Hungary (d: 1956, heart attack).
                - 1906: Dr. Lee DeForest demonstrated his electrical vacuum tube.
                - 1918: In the third of an exchange of notes between President
                  Woodrow Wilson and the Germans, aimed at an armistice, the Germans
                  agreed to further concessions.
                - 1931: Future New York Yankees star outfielder Mickey Mantle was
                  born in Spavinaw, Okla. (d: 1995, liver cancer).
                - 1935: Mao Zedong and his Communist forces ended their "Long March"
                  at Yan'an, in Shaanxi, China, one year after beginning their flight
                  from Chiang Kai-shek's armies.
                - 1944: In World War II, Russian and Yugoslav forces captured
                  Belgrade. U.S. troops landed on the eastern coast of Leyte Island
                  in the Philippines, fulfilling a promise Gen. MacArthur made to
                  return when his forces retreated from the Japanese.
                - 1947: The House UnAmerican Activities Committee opened hearings
                  into possible Communist influence in Hollywood and the film
                  industry.
                - 1970: American Norman Borlaug was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for
                  his development of new strains of wheat and rice.
                - 1971: West German Chancellor Willy Brandt was awarded the Nobel
                  Peace Prize.
                - 1973: In the "Saturday Night Massacre" during the Watergate era,
                  prosecutor Archibald Cox was fired and Attorney General Elliot
                  Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckleshaus both
                  resigned.
                - 1975: The Supreme Court ruled teachers could spank their pupils if
                  the pupils were warned in advance that their behavior could trigger
                  a spanking.

                *Happy Birthday*
                ----------------
                - Art Buchwald, 73, journalist/satirist
                - Arlene Francis, 90, actress/game show hostess/panelist
                - Melanie Mayron, 46, actress/director "thirtysomething"
                - Jerry Orbach, 63, actor, "Law and Order"
                - Tom Petty, 48, classic rock singer, of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
                - Snoop Doggy Dogg, 27, rap singer (real name: Calvin Broadus)