Today in History

• Benedict Arnold burns Richmond (1781)
• Golden Gate Bridge construction begins  (1933)
• Alfred Dreyfus is convicted of treason, beginning the Dreyfus Affair (1895)
• Ford implements a “living wage” policy, paying workers a minimum of $5 for an 8-hour day (1914)
• The Nazi Party is founded (1919)
• Nellie Tayloe Ross becomes the first female governor of a US state (1925)

Birthdays

• Zebulon Pike, explorer (1778)
• Stephen Decatur, US Navy officer (1779)
• King Camp Gillette, razor blade magnate (1855)
• Bob Caruthers, baseball player (1864)
• Dorothy Levitt, “Fastest Girl on Earth” (1882)
• Jeane Dixon, astrologer (1904)
• Hugh Brannum, “Mr. Green Jeans” (1910)
• George Reeves, TV Superman (1914)
• Herb Peterson, invented the Egg McMuffin (1919)
• Robert Duvall, actor (1931)
• Umberto Eco, writer (1932)
• Hayao Miyazaki, animation director (1941)
• Charlie Rose, talk show host (1942)
• Diane Keaton, actress (1946)
• Marilyn Manson, shock rocker (1969)

Deaths

• Edward the Confessor, British monarch (1066)
• Ernest Shackleton, polar explorer (1922)
• Calvin Coolidge, 30th US President (1933)
• George Washington Carver, botanist and inventor (1943)
• Rabbit Maryville, baseball player (1954)
• Rogers Hornsby, baseball player (1963)
• Harold Urey, physical chemist (1981)
• Tip O’Neill, Speaker of the House of Representatives (1994)
• Sonny Bono, singer and politician (1998)
• Momofuku Ando, inventor of instant noodles (2007)

Holidays and Celebrations

• National Bird Day
• Twelfth Day of Christmas
• Eve of the Theophany
• National Whipped Cream Day
• Sausage Day (UK)
• Strawberry Day (Japan)