On this day in history —

• Muhammad and his forces win the Battle of Badr, a turning point for the new religion (624)
• Spain conquers Guatemala (1697)
• William Herschel discovers Uranus (1781)
• The Siege of Khartoum begins (1884)
• The Kraków Ghetto liquidation begins (1943)
• The Battle of Điện Biên Phủ begins (1954)
• Kitty Genovese is murdered (1964)
• Apollo 9 returns (1964)
• The Dunblane School Massacre takes place in Scotland, leading to the banning of private handgun ownership in the UK (1996)

It’s the birthday of —

• Dana Delany, actress (1956)
• William H. Macy, actor (1950)
• Neil Sedaka, pop singer/songwriter (1939)
• Al Jaffee, Mad cartoonist (1921)
• Butch O’Hare, fighter ace and airport namesake (1914)
• William Casey, CIA director (1913)
• L. Ron Hubbard, science fiction writer (1911)
• Home Run Baker, basketball player (1886)
• Percival Lowell, astronomer (1885)
• Hugh Walpole, novelist (1884)
• Earl Grey, tea namesake (1764)
• Joseph Priestley, chemist (1733)

Deaths —

• Robert Baker, inventor of the chicken nugget (2006)
• Maureen Stapleton, actress (2006)
• Hans von Ohain, jet engine inventor (1998)
• Bruno Bettelheim, psychologist (1990)
• John Holmes, porn star (1988)
• Lee Falk, Phantom and Mandrake artist (1999)
• Stephen Vincent Benét, author (1943)
• Clarence Darrow, lawyer (1938)
• Susan B. Anthony, suffragette (1906)
• Benjamin Harrison, president (1901)
• Henry Shrapnel, shattering cannonball inventor (1849)
• Richard Burbage, actor (1567)

Holidays —

• Kasuga Matsuri, or Monkey Festival (Japan)
• Feast of Gerald of Mayo (Catholicism)