Today in History

• Rome is sacked by forces loyal to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, marking the end of the Italian Renaissance (1527)
• The first adhesive postage stamp, the English Penny Black, goes on sale (1840)
• The Glaciarium, the world’s first ice skating rink using mechanically frozen ice, opens in London (1844)
• Richmond becomes capital of the Confederacy (1861)
• The Battle of Chancellorsville ends (1863)
• The Eiffel Tower opens to the public (1889)
• The LZ-129 Hindenburg catches on fire while docking at Lakehurst Naval Air Station and is destroyed (1937)
• Bob Hope performs his first USO show (1941)
• English former Olympian Roger Bannister becomes the first person to break the “four minute mile” barrier (1954)
• Princess Margaret marries in the first royal wedding broadcast on television (1960)
• Maya Lin’s design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is chosen (1981)
• The Channel Tunnel opens (1994)
• Paula Jones files a lawsuit against Bill Clinton (1994)
• Former CIA director William Colby’s body is found in the Wimlico River (1996)
• Kerry Wood strikes out 20 Houston Astros, tying the record for strikeouts in a nine-inning game and becoming the second pitcher to strike out his age (1998)

Birthdays

• Chris Paul, basketball player (1985)
• Gabourey Sidibe, actress (1983)
• Kyle Shewfelt, Olympic gymnast (1982)
• Colt Cabana, wrestler (1980)
• John Abraham, football player (1978)
• Naoko Takahashi (高橋 尚子), Olympic marathon runner (1972)
• Martin Brodeur, hockey player (1972)
• Leslie Hope, actress (1965)
• George Clooney, actor (1961)
• Roma Downey, actress (1960)
• Tom Bergeron, TV host (1955)
• Tony Blair, prime minister (1953)
• Samuel Doe, president of Liberia (1951)
• Bob Seger, rocker (1945)
• Masanori Murakami (村上 雅則), first Japanese player in major league baseball (1944)
• Andreas Baader, Baader-Meinhoff Gang leader (1943)
• Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, boxer and accused murderer (1937)
• Willie Mays, “Say Hey Kid” (1931)
• Patricia Kennedy Lawford, political family member (1924)
• Harry Watson, hockey player (192)
• Martha Beck, “Lonely Hearts Killer” (1920)
• Adriana Caselotti, voice of Snow White (1916)
• Orson Welles, actor, director, writer, producer, wine salesman (1915)
• Theodore H. White, Presidential election chronicler (1915)
• Stewart Granger, actor (1913)
• Weeb Ewbank, football coach (1907)
• Raymond Bailey, played Mr. Drysdale on The Beverly Hillbillies (1904)
• Toots Shor, restauranteur (1903)
• Harry Golden, journalist and publisher (1902)
• Rudolph Valentino, sex symbol (1895)
• Sigmund Freud, psychiatrist (1856)
• Robert Peary, claimed to have reached the North Pole (1856)
• Maximilien de Robespierre, Reign of Terror leader (1758)

Deaths

• George Lindsey, “Goober” on The Andy Griffith Show (2012)
• Robin Roberts, baseball player (2010)
• Otis Blackwell, composed “Great Balls of Fire,” “Don’t Be Cruel,” and “All Shook Up” (2002)
• Marlene Dietrich, actress (1992)
• Wilfrid Hyde-White, actor (1991)
• Red Blaik, football coach (1989)
• William J. Casey, CIA director (1987)
• József Mindszenty, cardinal (1975)
• Theodore von Kármán, aerodynamicist (1963)
• Monty Wooley, actor (1963)
• Art Houtteman, baseball player (1963)
• Ted Weems, big band leader (1963)
• Maria Montessori, educator (1952)
• L. Frank Baum, children’s book writer (1919)
• Edward VII, monarch (1910)
• Bret Harte, writer (1902)
• Henry David Thoreau, philosopher (1862)
• Alexander von Humboldt, naturalist and explorer (1859)
• François de Laval, “father of the Canadian Catholic Church” (1708)
• Cornelius Jansen, founder of Jansenism, condemned as heretic (1638)

Holidays and Celebrations