Born this Day

1737 Edward Gibbon - British historian and author (History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire)
1786 Thomas Hancock - British inventor who helped start the British rubber industry
1828 Jean Henri Dunant - Swiss humanitarian and founder of the Red Cross. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1901
1884 Harry S. Truman - 33rd US President, born near Lamar, Missouri
1895 Bishop Fulton Sheen - TV clergyman (Life Is Worth Living)
1906 Roberto Rossellini - Director (Seven Deadly Sins, The Messiah) He was married, briefly, to Ingrid Bergman, and is the father of Isabella Rossellini
1911 Robert Johnson - Blues singer, songwriter and guitarist (Sweet Home Chicago, Cross Road Blues, Me and the Devil Blues) He was the subject of the film Crossroads
1913 Sidney James - South African born British comedian of stage, screen, radio and television (Bless This House, The Lavender Hill Mob, The Belles of St. Trinian's and numerous Carry on… movies)
1919 Lex Barker - Actor (A Place Called Glory, La Dolce Vita, Apaches Last Battle, Away All Boats, Executioner of Venice)
1926 Sir David Attenborough - British broadcaster and naturalist who is interested in environmental issues. He is the brother of Lord Richard Attenborough
1926 Don Rickles - Comedian and actor (CPO Sharkey, Casino, Kelly's Heroes, Beach Blanket Bingo, The Rat Race)
1932 Sonny Liston - US boxer who was the World Heavyweight Boxing Champion in 1962 and 1963
1932 Phyllida Law – Scottish actress (Much Ado About Nothing, Poirot: The Incredible Theft, Kingdom, Miss Austen Regrets, The Time Machine, The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns, The Winter Guest, Emma, Anna Karenina) She is the mother of actresses Sophie and Emma Thompson
1940 Peter Benchley - Author (Jaws, The Deep, The Island)
1940 Ricky Nelson - Actor who grew up to play himself on his parents' TV series (The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Rio Bravo, Wackiest Ship in the Army, Love and Kisses) and singer (I'm Walking, Be-Bop Baby, Poor Little Fool, Lonesome Town, Never Be Anyone Else But You, Travelin' Man, Garden Party)
1941 James Mitchum - Actor (In Harm's Way, Code Name: Zebra, Hollywood Cop, Marked for Murder, Ride the Wild Surf) He is the son of Robert Mitchum
1943 Toni Tennille - Singer with The Captain and Tennille (Love Will Keep Us Together, The Way I Want To Touch You, Lonely Night, Muskrat Love)
1953 Alex Van Halen - Rock musician with the group Van Halen (Jump, Panama, Finish What You Started) He was born in Amsterdam, and is the brother of Eddie Van Halen
1954 David Keith – Actor (An Officer and a Gentleman, The Lords of Discipline, White of the Eye, The Great Santini, The Two Jakes, Heartbreak Hotel, Lone Star, Behind Enemy Lines, Men of Honor, High Incident)
1955 Stephen Furst – Actor (Animal House, St. Elsewhere, Babylon 5, The Dream Team)
1960 Patrick McKenna – Canadian actor (The Red Green Show, Traders, A Colder Kind of Death, Trudeau, Duct Tape Forever, Best Ed, Will You Merry Me, Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town)
1963 Stella Gonet – Scottish actress (Holby City, The House of Elliot, Persuasion, Lewis: The Dead of Winter, Nicholas Nickleby, Trip Trap)
1964 Melissa Gilbert - Actress (Little House on the Prairie, The Miracle Worker, House of Secrets, Sweet Justice, The Christmas Pageant)
1973 Kam Heskin – Actress (Catch Me If You Can, Sunset Beach, Vlad, This Girl’s Life)
1978 Matthew Davis – Actor (The Vampire Diaries, Damages, What About Brian, Legally Blonde)
1982 Christina Cole – British actress (Marple: Murder at the Vicarage, Hex, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Poirot: Appointment with Death, Lost in Austin, Maggie Hill, Chaos, Morlocks)


Died this Day

1794 Antoine Lavoisier - French scientist who was executed on the guillotine during France's Reign of Terror. He identified oxygen as a result of Priestly's previous work, and was known as the father of modern chemistry
1880 Gustav Flaubert, age 58 - French novelist (Madame Bovary) Rumour has it that he died of a stroke while in the arms of his servant, Suzanne
1947 Henry Gordon Selfridge, age 90 - US founder of Britain's first large department store empire. He left only £1,544 in his will
1982 Gilles Villeneuve - Canadian racing driver, died in a racing accident when his vehicle collided with another car during the final qualifying session for the Belgian Grand Prix in Zalder, Belgium. His son, Jacques Villeneuve continues the family's racing tradition today


On this Day

1541 On his search for riches of gold and silver, Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto reached the Mississippi River, south of present-day Memphis, Tennessee, probably one of the first European explorers to ever do so. After building flatboats, de Soto and his 400 ragged troops crossed the great river under the cover of night, in order to avoid the armed Native Americans who patrolled the river daily in war canoes. From there, they travelled through present-day Arkansas and Louisiana, still with few material gains to show for their efforts. Turning back to the Mississippi, de Soto died of a fever on its banks, just over one year later, in May, 1542
1816 The American Bible Society was organised in the Dutch Reformed Church on Garden Street in New York City. The non-profit society was instituted to promote wider circulation of the Scriptures by publishing Bibles without notes or comments
1846 The first major battle of the Mexican War was fought at Palo Alto, Texas, resulting in victory for General Zachary Taylor's forces
1886 Coca-Cola was served for the first time, at Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia. Earlier that month, Atlanta pharmacist John Styth Pemberton had concocted a caramel-coloured syrup in a three-legged, 30 gallon brass kettle hung over a backyard fire. He first distributed the new product by carrying the syrup in a jug down the street to Jacobs Pharmacy, where, for 5¢, consumers could enjoy a glass of Coca-Cola at the soda fountain. It was marketed as a "brain and nerve tonic," and sales averaged nine drinks per day. Whether by design or accident, carbonated water was teamed with the new syrup, producing a drink that was proclaimed "Delicious and Refreshing." Dr. Pemberton's partner and bookkeeper, Frank M. Robinson, suggested the name, Coca-Cola, and penned it in the unique flowing script that is famous world-wide today
1907 In Los Angeles, California, Canadian boxer Tommy Burns knocked out Jack O'Brien in the 20th round to win the heavyweight championship of the world
1921 Sweden abolished capital punishment
1933 The first police radio system, connecting headquarters to patrol cars and patrol cars to one another, was installed in Eastchester Township, New York, by Radio Engineering Laboratories of Long Island City, New York. The township contracted with the company for one transmitter of 20 watts for the headquarters and two transmitters of 4.5 volts each for the two patrol cars
1945 VE (Victory in Europe) Day. The Second World War ended in Europe with the unconditional surrender of all German land, sea and air forces. The surrender was signed the previous day by German envoys meeting Allied delegates in a schoolhouse at Rheims, France
1962 London trolley busses ran for the last time
1973 The occupation of Wounded Knee ended at the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, when armed members of the American Indian Movement surrendered to federal authorities. The 71-day siege of Wounded Knee took place at the site of the infamous massacre of 300 Sioux by the US 7th Cavalry in 1890
1984 The Thames Barrier, designed to prevent the river from flooding central London, was opened
1984 The Soviet government announced a boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympic Games to be held in Los Angeles, California, citing fears for the safety of its athletes in what it considered a hostile and anti-communist environment. Although the Soviets had cited security concerns, the boycott was more likely the result of strained Cold War relations due to the US's aid to Muslim rebels fighting in Afghanistan, as well as a payback for the US boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. A number of other Soviet Bloc countries and Cuba followed suit in boycotting the Los Angeles Games, which carried on without the presence of many of the communist world's best athletes. China, however, participated in the Los Angeles Summer Games in its first Olympic appearance since 1952
1984 Denis Lortie sprayed the Québec National Assembly with machinegun fire, killing three and wounding 13
1986 The fourth supplement to the Oxford Dictionary was published. It included the words yuppie, self-service and security blanket
1987 Ottawa unveiled Canada's new one-dollar coin. Made of nickel, copper and recycled tin, it was dubbed the "loonie" because of the loon engraved on its flip side. Almost two years later the last paper $1 bill was printed and retired from circulation, leaving the loonie as the sole currency in that denomination
1999 The Citadel, South Carolina's formerly all-male military school, graduated its first female cadet, Nancy Ruth Mace