This Day in History
1854: The Republican Party is founded, in Ripon, WI.
1983: The final episode of the TV show M*A*S*H is aired and becomes the most watched TV program of all time.
1986: Swedish Prime Min. Olof Palme is shot and killed while walking down a Stockholm street.
1993: Four federal agents and several cult members are killed during an unsuccessful raid on the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, TX. The last UN peacekeeping troops begin withdrawing from Somalia.:
2001: A 6.8 magnitude earthquake strikes the Seattle, WA area, injuring 250 people and wreaking over $1 billion in damages.
Today's Birthdays
1533: Michel de Montaigne, essayist/philosopher (Perigord, France; died 1592)
1797: Mary Lyon, women's educator (near Buckland, MA; died 1849)
1820: Sir John Tenniel, illustrator/cartoonist (London, England; died 1914)
1923: Charles Durning, actor (Highland Falls, NY)
1930: Gavin MacLeod, actor (Mount Kisco, NY)
1939: Tommy Tune, actor/dancer/singer (Wichita Falls, TX)
1940: Mario Andretti, auto racer (Montona, Italy)
1945: Charles ""Bubba"" Smith, football player and actor (Beaumont, TX)
1948: Bernadette Peters, singer/actress (New York, NY). Mercedes Ruehl, actress (Queens, NY):
1953: Paul Krugman, economist and columnist (Albany, NY)
1956: Adrian Dantley, basketball player (Washington, DC)
1957: John Turturro, actor (Brooklyn, NY)
1962: Rae Dawn Chong, actress (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)
1969: Robert Sean Leonard, actor (Westwood, NJ)
1973: Eric Lindros, hockey player (London, Ontario, Canada)
