This Day in History
1649: Britain's King Charles I is beheaded under the orders of Oliver Cromwell and Parliament.
1933: Adolf Hitler is named chancellor of Germany .
1948: Mohandas Gandhi is assassinated by a Hindu fanatic in New Delhi, India .
1968: In the Vietnam War , the Tet offensive is launched by Communist troops which attack Saigon and numerous provincial capitals.
1973: G. Gordon Liddy and James McCord are convicted in the Watergate break-in trial.
2003: Richard C. Reid is sentenced to life in prison in the U.S. for attempting to set off a shoe bomb on a trans-Atlantic flight in Dec. 2001.
2005: Millions of Iraqis cast ballots in the country's first contested elections since 1954.
Today's Birthdays
1846: Francis Herbert Bradley, English philosopher and exponent of absolute idealism (South Wales; died 1924)
1882: Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd president of the United States (near Hyde Park, NY; died 1945)
1909: Saul D. Alinsky, poverty fighter and community organizer (Chicago, IL; died 1972)
1912: Barbara Tuchman, historian/journalist (New York, NY; died 1988)
1919: Fred Tayosaburo Korematsu, Japanese American who unsuccessfully challenged in the Supreme Court the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II (Oakland, CA; died 2005)
1923: Dick Martin, comedian (Detroit, MI)
1930: Gene Hackman, actor (San Bernardino, CA)
1933: Richard Brautigan, short story writer and poet (Tacoma, WA; died 1984). Louis Rukeyser, TV journalist and financial analyst (New York, NY; died 2006)
1934: Tammy Grimes, actress (Lynn, MA)
1937: Vanessa Redgrave, actress (London, England). Boris Spassky, chess champion (Leningrad, USSR)
1941: Richard B. Cheney, U.S. vice president (Lincoln, NE)
1951: Phil Collins, singer/songwriter/musician (London, England). Charles S. Dutton, actor (Baltimore, MD)
1955: Curtis Strange, golfer (Norfolk, VA)
1957: Payne Stewart, golfer (Springfield, MO; died 1999)
1958: Brett Butler, comedian/actress (Montgomery, AL)
1961: Jody Watley, singer (Chicago, IL)
1962: King Abdullah II, king of Jordan (Amman, Jordan)
1968: Prince Felipe, heir to the Spanish throne
1974: Christian Bale, actor (Pembrokeshire, West Wales)
