- 1297: The Scots under William Wallace defeated a large English
                        force under the Earl of Surrey at the Battle of Stirling Bridge.
                      - 1649: Oliver Cromwell, the leader of the victorious
                        parliamentarians in the English Civil War, besieged Drogheda in
                        Ireland and massacred most of the inhabitants.
                      - 1777: The British defeated the Americans, led by Gen. George
                        Washington, at the Battle of Brandywine Creek in the Revolutionary
                        War.
                      - 1789: Alexander Hamilton was appointed the first Secretary of the
                        Treasury.
                      - 1814: The American navy defeated the British in the Battle of Lake
                        Champlain.
                      - 1847: Stephen Foster first performed his song, "Oh! Susanna."
                      - 1853: The first electric telegraph went into operation.
                      - 1862: Short story writer O. Henry (real name: William Sydney
                        Porter) was born in Greensboro, N.C. (d: 1901).
                      - 1883: James Cutler patented the postal mail chute.
                      - 1936: President Franklin Roosevelt dedicated Boulder Dam, (later
                        renamed Hoover Dam).
                      - 1940: Buckingham Palace in London was destroyed by German bombs.
                      - 1941: After German U-boats attacked three U.S. ships, President
                        Franklin Roosevelt warned German and Italian warships away from
                        American waters and ordered the U.S. Navy to shoot on sight.
                      - 1950: The "Beetle Bailey" comic strip made its debut.
                      - 1954: The Miss America pageant was televised for the first time.
                      - 1959: Congress passed a bill authorizing food stamps for poor
                        Americans.
                      - 1962: The Beatles finished recording their first single "Love Me
                        Do" at Abbey Road studios. Drummer Ringo Starr, considered too
                        inexperienced, was replaced by Andy White.

                      *Happy Birthday*
                      ----------------

                      - Roxanne Biggs-Dawson, 34, actress, "Star Trek: Voyager"
                      - Ellis Burks, 34, San Francisco Giants outfielder
                      - Harry Connick Jr., 31, singer/actor, "Independence Day"
                      - Robert Crippen, 61, astronaut, pilot on first U.S. space shuttle
                        orbital flight.
                      - Jimmie Davis, 96, singer/songwriter, "You Are My Sunshine"
                      - Brian De Palma, 58, producer/director/scriptwriter, "Cape Fear"
                      - Lola Falana, 55, actress/singer/dancer, "Bill Cosby Show"
                      - Mickey Hart, 55, drummer of The Grateful Dead
                      - Earl Holliman, 70, actor, "The Wide Country"
                      - Leo Kottke, 53, guitarist/singer/songwriter
                      - Amy Madigan, 48, actress, "Field of Dreams"
                      - Virginia Madsen, 37, actress, "Ghosts of Mississippi"
                      - Kristy McNichol, 36, actress, "Family"
                      - Robert "Bob" Packwood, 66, infamous Oregon ex-senator