This Day in History
1778: During the American Revolution, the British evacuate Philadelphia, after the French send a fleet to support the colonists.
1812: Congress declares war on the British, beginning the War of 1812.
1815: Napoleon is defeated at the Battle of Waterloo.
1979: Pres. Jimmy Carter and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev sign SALT II, limiting offensive nuclear weapons.
1983: Sally Ride, aboard the space shuttle Challenger, becomes the first American woman in space.
2000: Golfer Tiger Woods wins the 100th U.S. Open by 15 strokes, the largest margin ever for a major golf tournament.
2002: In the first of two days of suicide bombings in Jerusalem, an explosion on a bus kills 20 including the bomber.
Today's Birthdays
1712: Jean Jacques Rousseau, philosopher and writer (Geneva, Switzerland; died 1778)
1886: George Mallory, mountain climber/explorer (Mobberley, Cheshire, England; died 1924)
1906: Kay Kyser, bandleader (Rocky Mount, NC; died 1985)
1913: Sammy Cahn, songwriter (New York, NY; died 1993). Sylvia Porter, financial journalist (Patchogue, NY; died 1991)
1915: Paul Neal (Red) Adair, oil-well firefighter (Houston, Texas; died 2004)
1918: Franco Modigliani, economist and Nobel laureate (Rome, Italy)
1924: George Mikan, basketball player (Joliet, IL; died 2005)
1926: Tom Wicker, journalist (Hamlet, NC)
1932: Dudley Robert Herschbach, chemist and Nobel laureate (San Jose, CA)
1934: George Hearn, actor/singer (St Louis, MO)
1937: Gail Godwin, writer (Birmingham, AL)
1939: Lou Brock, baseball player (El Dorado, AR)
1942: Paul McCartney, singer/songwriter/musician and member of the Beatles (Liverpool, England). Roger Ebert, film critic (Urbana, IL)
1952: Carol Kane, actress (Cleveland, OH). Isabella Rossellini, model/actress (Rome, Italy)
