^{An anti-marijuana advertisement distributed by the US Federal Bureau of Narcotics in 1935.}

Today in History

• Jews in New Amsterdam are granted freedom of religion (1657)
• The Wisconsin Territory is established (1836)
• Robert E. Lee resigns his commission in the US Army (1861)
• The Curies refine radium chloride (1902)
• The Chicago Cubs play their first game at what will be later known as Wrigley Field (1916)
• Manfred von Richthofen achieves his final two victories — he will be shot down the following day (1918)
• Billie Holiday records “Strange Fruit,” the first civil rights song (1939)
• Adolf Hitler makes his last trip to the surface from the Führerbunker to award Iron Crosses to some Hitler Youth boys (1945)
• The League of Nations officially dissolves (1946)
• The Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba fails (1961)
• Apollo 16 lands on the moon (1972)
• KAL 902 is shot down by the Soviet Union (1978)
• The Columbine High School massacre takes place (1999)
• The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explodes, killing eleven and triggering a six month long oil spill (2010)

Birthdays

• Georg Michael Telemann, composer (1748)
• Young Tom Morris, golfer (1851)
• Howlin’ Mad Smith, US general (1882)
• Adolf Hitler, dictator (1889)
• Harold Lloyd, silent film star (1893)
• Joan Miró, painter (1893)
• Lionel Hampton, vibraphonist (1908)
• John Paul Stevens, supreme jurist (1920)
• Mother Angelica, televangelist nun (1923)
• Tito Puente, drummer (1923)
• George Takei, actor (1937)
• Peter S. Beagle, author (1939)
• Ryan O’Neal, actor (1941)
• Edie Sedgwick, Warhol “superstar” (1943)
• Jamie Gillis, porn star (1943)
• Veronica Cartwright, actress (1949)
• Jessica Lange, actress (1949)
• Luther Vandross, singer-songwriter (1951)
• Don Mattingly, baseball player and manager (1961)
• Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf, comedian (1962)
• Aubrey de Grey, gerontologist (1963)
• Crispin Glover, actor (1964)
• Andy Serkis, actor (1964)
• Carmen Electra, entertainer (1972)

Deaths

• Chief Pontiac, Native American tribal leader (1769)
• Bram Stoker, author (1912)
• Archibald MacLeish, poet (1982)
• Benny Hill, comedian (1992)
• Cantinflas, actor (1993)
• Christopher Robin Milne, model for Christopher Robin in the Pooh stories (1996)
• Señor Wences, ventriloquist (1999)

Holidays and Celebrations