This Day in History
1525: At the Battle of Frankenhausen, Thomas Münzer, a Protestant reformer and leader of peasant revolts, is taken prisoner and later executed.
1911: The Supreme Court dissolves Standard Oil Co.
1918: The U.S. launched its first regular airmail service.
1947: Congress approves Pres. Harry Truman's request for aid to combat Communist terrorism in Greece and Turkey, launching what becomes known as the Truman Doctrine.
1955: Ten years after the end of World War II, the USSR, the U.S., Great Britain, and France sign the State Treaty with Austria, formally reestablishing the Austrian republic.
1970: Pres. Richard Nixon names the first 2 female generals in U.S. history.
1972: While campaigning in Laurel, MD, for the Democratic presidential nomination, Alabama Gov. George Wallace is shot and seriously wounded by Arthur Bremer.
1988: Soviet troops begin withdrawing from Afghanistan.
Today's Birthdays
1648: George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys, judge under Kings Charles II and James II (Denbigshire, Wales; died 1689)
1773: Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, statesman and diplomat (Koblenz, Germany; died 1859)
1813: Søren Kierkegaard, religious philosopher (Copenhagen, Denmark; died 1855)
1845: Élie Metchnikoff, biologist and Nobel laureate (Kharkov Oblast, Russia; died 1916)
1856: L. Frank Baum, children's author (Chittenango, NY; died 1919)
1859: Pierre Curie, chemist known for work on radioactivity (France; died 1906)
1890: Katherine Anne Porter, novelist/short-story writer (Indian Creek, TX; died 1980)
1905: Joseph Cotten, actor (Petersburg, VA; died 1994)
1910: Constance Cummings, actress (Seattle, WA; died 2006)
1911: Max Frisch, playwright and novelist (Zürich, Switzerland; died 1991)
1915: Paul A. Samuelson, economist (Gary, IN)
1923: Richard Avedon, photographer (New York, NY; died 2004)
1930: Jasper Johns, artist (Augusta, GA)
1937: Madeleine Albright, former secretary of state (Prague, Czechoslovakia)
1940: Roger Ailes, TV exec (Warren, OH)
1942: Lainie Kazan, singer/actress (New York, NY)
1951: Chazz Palminteri, actor/playwright/screenwriter (Bronx, NY)
1953: George Brett, baseball player (Glen Dale, WV)
1955: Lee Horsley, actor (Muleshoe, TX)
1969: Emmitt Smith, football player (Pensacola, FL)
1972: David Charvet, actor (Lyon, France)
1981: Jamie-Lynn Sigler, actress (Jericho, NY)
