On this day in history —

• Joseph Biedenham of Vicksburg, Mississippi, becomes the first person to bottle and sell Coca-Cola (1894)
• Juliette Gordon Low forms the first American chapter of the Girl Guides, later Girl Scouts of the USA (1912)
• Moscow becomes the capital of Russia after 215 years in which St. Petersburg held the honor (1918)
• The St. Francis Dam disaster near Los Angeles releases over 12 billion gallons of water in a flood wave 130 feet high, killing 600 (1928)
• Gandhi begins the Salt March (1930)
• FDR gives the first “Fireside Chat” (1933)
• The Nazi “anschluss’ of Austria incorporates that country into Germany (1938)
• The Winter War between the USSR and Finland ends (1940)
• Truman establishes the “Truman Doctrine,” commonly cited as the official start of the Cold War (1947)
• The Bombay Bombings kill 250 and injure 700 (1993)
• Bernie Madoff pleads guilty to the largest financial fraud in US history (2009)
• The core of Fukushima Power Plant I melts down (2011)

It’s the birthday of —

• David Eggers, writer (1970)
• Darryl Strawberry, baseball player (1962)
• Ron Jeremy,  porn star (1953)
• Carl Hiassen, novelist (1953)
• Jon Provost, Timmy on Lassie (1950)
• James Taylor, singer/songwriter (1948)
• Mitt Romney, Presidential candidate (1947)
• Liza Minnelli, entertainer (1946)
• Sammy “the Bull” Gravano, mobster (1945)
• Jimmy Rutherford, car racer (1938)
• Eddie Sutton, basketball coach (1936)
• Barbara Feldon, Agent 99 (1933)
• Andrew Young, civil rights activist (1932)
• Billie “Buckwheat” Thomas, little rascal (1931)
• Herb Kelleher, co-founder and CEO of Southwest Airlines (1931)
• Edward Albee, playwright (1928)
• Harry Harrison, science fiction writer (1925)
• Wally Schirra, astronaut (1923)
• Jack Kerouac, Beat legend (1922)
• Vaslav Nijinsky (Ва́цлав Нижи́нский) (1889)
• Charles Boycott, isolated land owner (1832)
• Clement Studebaker, car manufacturer (1831)
• Bishop Berkeley, philosopher (1685)

Deaths —

• Morton Downey, Jr., talk show host (2001)
• Robert Ludlum, writer (2001)
• Yehudi Menuhin, violinist (1999)
• Maurice Evans, actor (1989)
• Woody Hayes, football coach (1987)
• Eugene Ormandy, conductor (1985)
• John Cazale, Fredo in The Godfather (1978)
• Charlie Parker, saxophonist (1955)
• George Westinghouse, industrialist and inventor (1914)
• Pope Gregory I the Great, cleric (604)

Holidays —

• Girl Scout Birthday (United States) — Cover
• World Day Against Cyber Censorship
• Arbor Day (China and Taiwan)
• National Day (Mauritius)
• Youth Day (Zambia)
• Graekarismessa (Faroe Islands)