This Day in History
1854: A meeting of Democrats, former Whigs, and Free-Soilers in Ripon, WI, leads to the founding of the Republican Party.
1976: Heiress Patty Hearst is convicted of bank robbery performed with the Symbionese Liberation Army.
1987: The FDA approves the use of the antiviral drug AZT to treat AIDS.
1987: Jim Bakker resigns as head of the PTL ministry, saying that he was blackmailed after being lured into a sexual encounter.
1995: A nerve-gas attack on the Tokyo subway system leaves 12 people dead and 5,000 injured.
1996: A British government report raises serious questions about the safety of beef, amid fear of "mad cow disease."
2002: A car bomb kills 9 and wounds 30 outside the U.S. embassy in Lima, Peru, prior to a visit from Pres. George W. Bush.
2003: The first U.S. ground troops enter Iraq and move north towards Baghdad, meeting sporadic resistance.
2004: Former U.S. counterterrorism official Richard Clarke, testifying before the 9/11 commission, states that the Bush administration was preoccupied with Iraq and did not give dangers posed by al-Qaeda adequate attention.
Today's Birthdays
1828: Henrik Ibsen, playwright (Skien, Norway; died 1906)
1904: B.F. Skinner, behavioral psychologist (Susquehanna, PA; died 1990)
1908: Michael Redgrave, actor Britain; died 1985)
1922: Carl Reiner, actor/comedian (Bronx, NY)
1928: Fred Rogers (""Mr. Rogers""), children's entertainer (Latrobe, PA; died 2003)
1930: Marian McPartland, jazz pianist (Stough, England)
1931: Hal Linden, actor/singer (New York, NY)
1937: Jerry Reed, singer/songwriter (Atlanta, GA)
1939: Brian Mulroney, former Canadian prime minister (Baie-Corneau, Quebec, Canada)
1945: Pat Riley, basketball coach (Rome, NY)
1948: Bobby Orr, hockey player (Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada)
1950: William Hurt, actor (Washington, D.C.)
1957: Spike Lee, filmmaker (Atlanta, GA)
1958: Holly Hunter, actress (Conyers, GA)
