This Day in History
1861: Jefferson Davis is named president of the Confederacy's provisional government.
1915: Germany begins a submarine blockade of waters around Britain in World War I.
1930: Astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovers the planet Pluto.
1965: The Gambia becomes independent with Sir Dawda K. Jawara as prime minister.
1970: A federal jury finds the Chicago 7 anti-Vietnam war activists innocent of conspiring to incite riots during the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
1992: Patrick Buchanan makes a strong showing in the New Hampshire Republican presidential primary, placing 2d to Pres. George H. W. Bush.
2001: Dale Earnhardt, the most popular and successful driver in stock-car racing, is killed in a crash on the final turn of the final lap of the Daytona 500.
2002: Palestinian gunmen kill six Israeli soldiers at a West Bank outpost.
Today's Birthdays
1859: Sholem Aleichem (Solomon Rabinowitz), author/humorist (Russia; died 1916)
1892: Wendell Willkie, lawyer, executive, and presidential candidate (Elwood, IN; died 1944)
1920: Jack Palance, actor (Lattimer, PA)
1922: Helen Gurley Brown, author/publisher (Green Forest, AR)
1925: George Kennedy, actor (New York, NY)
1931: Toni Morrison, novelist (Lorain, OH)
1932: Milos Forman, director (Caslav, Czechoslovakia)
1933: Yoko Ono, artist, musician, and widow of John Lennon (Tokyo, Japan)
1949: Cybill Shepherd, actress (Memphis, TN)
1950: John Hughes, producer/director (Lansing, MI)
1954: John Travolta, actor (Englewood, NJ)
1957: Vanna White, TV personality (North Myrtle Beach, SC)
1964: Matt Dillon, actor (New Rochelle, NY)
1968: Molly Ringwald, actress (Roseville, CA)
