Birthdays

Rene Descartes 1596 - Philosopher, "I think, therefore I am"

Andrew Marvell 1621 - Poet

John Harrison 1693

Nikolai Gogol 1809 - Playwright, novelist

Edward Fitzgerald 1809 - Author

Robert Wilhelm Bunsen 1811

Mary Chestnut 1823 - Author

Sir Dugald Clerk 1854

Jack Johnson 1878

Henry Morgan 1915 - Comedian

Tommy Bolt 1918 - Golfer

Richard Kiley 1922 - Actor ("The Thorn Birds")

Leo Buscaglia 1925

Cesar Chavez 1927 - Labor leader, founder of National Farm Workers Association

William Daniels 1927 - Actor ("St. Elsewher", voice of KITT on "Knight Rider")

Gordie (Gordon) Howe 1928 - Hockey player (Detroit Red Wings, Hartford Whalers)

Lefty(William Orville) Frizzell 1928 - Country musician

Liz Claiborne 1929 - Fashion designer

Miller Barber 1931 - Golfer

John Jakes 1932 - Author ("California", "In the Big Country")

John D. Loudermilk 1934 - Country singer and songwriter

Shirley Jones 1934 - Singer, Actress ("The Partridge Family")

Herb Alpert 1935 - Musician

Richard Chamberlain 1935 - Actor ("The Bourne Identity")

Billy Hicke 1938 - Hockey player (Montreal Canadiens, NY Rangers, Minnesota Rangers, Baltimore Clippers, Oakland Seals, California Golden Seals, Pittsburgh Penguins)

Christopher Walken 1943 - Actor ("The Deerhunter", "Pulp Fiction")

Rod Allen 1944 - Musician (The Fortunes)

Gabe Kaplan 1945 - Actor ("Welcome Back Kotter"), comedian

Al Nichol 1946 - Musician (The Turtles)

Al Gore 1948 - U.S. Vice President under President Bill Clinton

Rhea Perlman 1948 - Actress ("Cheers"), comedian

Mick Ralphs 1948 - Musician (Bad Company, Mott the Hoople)

Ed Marinaro 1950 - Football player (Minnesota Vikings), Actor ("Hill Street Blues")

Sean Hopper 1953 - Musician (Huey Lewis and The News)

Marc McClure 1957 - Actor ("Freak Friday")

Angus Young 1959 - Guitar player (AC/DC)

William McNamara 1965 - Actor

Pavel Bure 1971 - Hockey player

Ewen McGregor 1971 - Actor ("Star Wars", "Moulin Rouge")

Events

1492 - King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain issued an edict expelling Jews who were unwilling to convert to Christianity.

1776 - Abigail Adams wrote to her husband John that women were "determined to foment a rebellion" if the new Declaration of Independence failed to guarantee their rights.

1779 - Russia and Turkey signed a treaty concerning military action in Crimea.

1831 - Quebec and Montreal were incorporated as cities.

1854 - The U.S. government signed the Treaty of Kanagawa with Japan. The act opened the ports of Shimoda and Hakotade to American trade.

1862 - Skirmishing between Rebels and Union forces took place at Island 10 on the Mississippi River.

1870 - In Perth Amboy, NJ, Thomas P. Munday became the first black to vote in the U.S.

1880 - Wabash, IN, became the first town to be completely illuminated with electric light.

1889 - In Paris, the Eiffel Tower officially opened.

1900 - The W.E. Roach Company was the first automobile company to put an advertisement in a national magazine. The magazine was the "Saturday Evening Post".

1900 - In France, the National Assembly passed a law reducing the workday for women and children to 11 hours.

1901 - In Russia, the Czar lashed out at Socialist-Revolutionaries with the arrests of 72 people and the seizing of two printing presses.

1902 - In Tennessee, 22 coal miners were killed by an explosion.

1904 - In India, hundreds of Tibetans were slaughtered by the British.

1905 - Kaiser Wilhelm arrived in Tangier proclaiming to support for an independent state of Morocco.

1906 - The Conference on Moroccan Reforms in Algerciras ended after two months with France and Germany in agreement.

1906 - The Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States was founded to set rules in amateur sports. The organization became the National Collegiate Athletic Association in 1910.

1908 - 250,000 coal miners in Indianapolis, IN, went on strike to await a wage adjustment.

1909 - Serbia accepted Austrian control over Bosnia-Herzegovina.

1917 - The U.S. purchased and took possession of the Virgin Islands from Denmark for $25 million.

1918 - For the first time in the U.S., Daylight Saving Time went into effect.

1921 - Great Britain declared a state of emergency because of the thousands of coal miners on strike.

1923 - In New York City, the first U.S. dance marathon was held. Alma Cummings set a new world record of 27 hours.

1932 - The Ford Motor Co. debuted its V-8 engine.

1933 - The U.S. Congress authorized the Civilian Conservation Corps to relieve rampant unemployment.

1933 - The "Soperton News" in Georgia became the first newspaper to publish using a pine pulp paper.

1939 - Britain and France agreed to support Poland if Germany threatened invasion.

1940 - La Guardia airport in New York officially opened to the public.

1941 - Germany began a counter offensive in North Africa.

1945 - "The Glass Menagerie" by Tennessee Williams opened on Broadway.

1946 - Monarchists won the elections in Greece.

1947 - John L. Lewis called a strike in sympathy for the miners killed in an explosion in Centralia, IL, on March 25, 1947.

1948 - The Soviets in Germany began controlling the Western trains headed toward Berlin.

1949 - Winston Churchill declared that the A-bomb was the only thing that kept the U.S.S.R. from taking over Europe.

1949 - Newfoundland entered the Canadian confederation as its 10th province.

1958 - The U.S. Navy formed the atomic submarine division.

1959 - The Dalai Lama (Lhama Dhondrub, Tenzin Gyatso) began exile by crossing the border into India where he was granted political asylum. Gyatso was the 14th Daila Lama.

1960 - The South African government declared a state of emergency after demonstrations lead to the death of more than 50 Africans.

1966 - An estimated 200,000 anti-war demonstrators march in New York City.

1966 - The Soviet Union launched Luna 10, which became the first spacecraft to enter a lunar orbit.

1967 - U.S. President Lyndon Johnson signed the Consular Treaty, the first bi-lateral pact with the Soviet Union since the Bolshevik Revolution.

1970 - The U.S. forces in Vietnam down a MIG-21, it was the first since September 1968.

1976 - The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that Karen Anne Quinlan could be disconnected from a respirator. Quinlan remained comatose until 1985 when she died.

1980 - U.S. President Carter deregulated the banking industry.

1985 - ABC-TV aired the 200th episode of "The Love Boat."

1986 - 167 people died when a Mexicana Airlines Boeing 727 crashed in Los Angeles.

1987 - HBO (Home Box Office) earned its first Oscar for "Down and Out in America".

1989 - Canada and France signed a fishing rights pact.

1991 - Albania offered a multi-party election for the first time in 50 years. Incumbent President Ramiz Alia won.

1991 - Iraqi forces recaptured the northern city of Kirkuk from Kurdish guerillas.

1993 - Brandon Lee was killed accidentally while filming a movie.

1994 - "Nature" magazine announced that a complete skull of Australppithecus afarensis had been found in Ethiopia. The finding is of humankind's earliest ancestor.

1998 - U.N. Security Council imposed arms embargo on Yugoslavia.

1998 - Buddy Hackett received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1998 - For the first time in U.S. history the federal government's detailed financial statement was released. This occurred under the Clinton administration.

1999 - Three U.S. soldiers were captured by Yugoslav soldiers three miles from the Yugoslav border in Macedonia.

1999 - Fabio was hit in the face by a bird during a promotional ride of a new roller coaster at the Busch Gardens theme park in Williamsburg, VA. Fabio received a one-inch cut across his nose.

2000 - In Uganda, officials set the number of deaths linked to a doomsday religious cult, the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments, at more than 900. In Kanungu, a March 17 fire at the cult's church killed more than 530 and authorities subsequently found mass graves at various sites linked to the cult.

2004 - Air America Radio launched five stations around the U.S.

2004 - Google Inc. announced that it would be introducing a free e-mail service called Gmail.

In music

1684 - Composer Francesco Durante was born.

1732 - Composer Franz Joseph Haydn was born. He is known for helping to develop the Classical style.

1901 - Anton Dvorak's opera "Rusalka" premiered in Russia.

1943 - "Oklahoma!" by Rodgers and Hammerstein debuted on Broadway. The original title was "Away We Go".

1958 - Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" was released.

1967 - Jimi Hendrix began his first British tour with Cat Stevens.

1982 - The Doobie Brothers announced their break-up.

1987 - Prince's "Sign O' The Times" LP was released in the U.S.

1989 - Guns N' Roses released their single "Patience."

1992 - White Zombie's "La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol. One" was released. It was their major label debut album.

1992 - Human touch and Lucky Day, both by Bruce Springsteen were released.

1995 - A former Led Zeppelin fan was arrested for trying to stab Jimmy Page at a Page and Robert Plant concert.

1995 - Selena was killed by the president of her fan club, Yolanda Saldivar. Saldivar had been fired for embezzlement.

1998 - The first Celebration of Female Artists Awards took place at The Grosvenor House in London.

1998 - The video for "Good Times," the only movie to star Sonny & Cher, hit stores. The video included an unreleased version of "I Got You Babe." The movie was made in 1967.

1999 - It was announced that tickets for the Cranberries' forthcoming U.S. tour would only be sold via the Internet at www.cranberries.com.