This Day in History
1789: The French Revolution begins with the fall of the Bastille in Paris.
1798: The U.S. Sedition Act is passed, prohibiting "false, scandalous and malicious" writing against the government.
1853: Comm. Matthew C. Perry of the U.S. Navy is received by Japan, on his mission to negotiate a treaty to open the country to U.S. ships.
1881: Outlaw William H. Bonney Jr., better known as Billy the Kid , is shot and killed in Fort Sumter, NM, by Sheriff Pat Garrett.
1951: The George Washington Carver National Monument in Missouri is dedicated, becoming the first U.S. national monument to honor an African American.
1966: Richard Speck murders 8 student nurses in a Chicago dormitory.
1970: In a controversial baseball play, Cincinnati's Pete Rose bowls over Cleveland's catcher Ray Fosse at the plate to give the National League a 12th-inning, 5-4 win over the American League in the All-Star Game.
2000: A jury assesses $144.8 billion in punitive damages against 5 tobacco companies in a Miami-Dade County Circuit Court, concluding the first class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of smokers to go to trial.
Today's Birthdays
1602: Jules Mazarin, statesman and cardinal (Pescina, Italy; died 1661)
1862: Florence Bascom, geologist/educator and first U.S. woman to receive a doctorate (Williamstown, MA; died 1945)
1904: Isaac Bashevis Singer, novelist/short-story writer (Poland; died 1991)
1912: Woody Guthrie, folk singer/songwriter (Okemah, OK; died 1967)
1913: Gerald Ford, 38th president of the United States (Omaha, NE)
1917: Douglas Edwards, TV journalist (Ada, OK; died 1990)
1918: Ingmar Bergman, director/screenwriter (Uppsala, Sweden)
1923: Dale Robertson, actor (Harrah, OK)
1926: Henry Dean Stanton, actor (West Irvine, KY)
1927: John Chancellor, TV journalist (Chicago, IL; died 1996)
1928: Nancy Olson, actress (Milwaukee, WI)
1930: Polly Bergen, actress (Knoxville, TN)
1932: Roosevelt Grier, football player and actor (Cuthbert, GA)
1947: Steve Stone, baseball pitcher/sportscaster (Euclid, OH)
1966: Matthew Fox, actor (Crowheart, WY)
1975: Tim Hudson, baseball player (Columbus, GA)
