This Day in History
1898: In Cuba , the U.S. battleship Maine blows up in Havana harbor, killing all 260 aboard and leading to calls to "Remember the Maine."
1933: An assassin aiming at Pres.-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt misses, instead killing Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak.
1965: Canada officially adopts a new flag, with the maple leaf replacing the Union Jack.
1989: The Soviet Union completes the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.
Today's Birthdays
1564: Galileo Galilei, physicist/astronomer (Pisa, Italy; died 1642)
1809: Cyrus McCormick, inventor of the reaper (Rockbridge County, VA; died 1884)
1820: Susan B. Anthony, women's rights leader (Adams, MA; died 1906)
1882: John Barrymore, actor (Philadelphia, PA; died 1942)
1905: Harold Arlen, composer/songwriter (Buffalo, NY; died 1986)
1914: Kevin McCarthy, actor (Seattle, WA)
1927: Harvey Korman, actor/comedian (Chicago, IL)
1931: Claire Bloom, actress (London, England)
1935: Susan Brownmiller, feminist author (Brooklyn, NY)
1951: Melissa Manchester, singer (Bronx, NY). Jane Seymour, actress (Middlesex, England).
1954: Matt Groening, cartoonist and creator of The Simpsons (Portland, OR)
1964: Chris Farley, comedian/actor (Madison, WI; died 1997)
