This Day in History
1936: Joe DiMaggio gets 3 hits in his major league baseball debut for the NY Yankees.
1946: A war-crimes trial against Japanese leaders in World War II opens in Tokyo , Japan.
1979: Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female prime minister of Britain .
1999: The northern and southern plains states are struck by 76 tornadoes , which cause some 50 deaths and more than 700 injuries.
2001: The United States is voted off the United Nations Human Rights Commission for the first time since the organization's inception in 1947.
2002: As the economic downturn continues, U.S. unemployment hits 6 percent, an 8-year high.
Today's Birthdays
1469: Niccolò Macchiavelli, Renaissance writer and statesman (Florence, Italy; died 1527)
1849: Jacob Riis, journalist/author and social reformer (Ribe, Denmark; died 1914)
1898: Golda Meir, Israeli prime minister (Kiev, Ukraine; died 1978)
1913: William Inge, playwright (Independence, KS; died 1973)
1919: Betty Comden, lyricist (Brooklyn, NY). Pete Seeger, folk singer/songwriter (New York, NY)
1921: Sugar Ray Robinson, champion boxer (Detroit, MI; died 1989)
1933: James Brown, soul and funk performer, composer, and bandleader (Barnwell, SC)
1936: Engelbert Humperdinck, singer (Madras, India)
1937: Frankie Valli, singer and member of the Four Seasons (Newark, NJ)
1946: Greg Gumbel, TV personality/sportscaster (New Orleans, LA)
1947: Doug Henning, magician (Fort Garry, Manitoba, Canada; died 2000)
1963: John Hornacek, basketball player (Elmhurst, IL)
1964: Wynonna Judd, country singer (Ashland, KY)
1974: Jewel (Kilcher), singer (Payson, UT)
