This Day in History
1644: At the Battle of Marston Moor, an engagement of the English Civil War, the Parliamentarians, led by Oliver Cromwell , win a great victory over the Royalists.
1776: The U.S. Continental Congress adopts the resolution "that these united colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent states."
1862: The Land Grant Act is approved, providing for the sale of public lands to benefit agricultural education; this eventually leads to the establishment of state university systems.
1881: Pres. James Garfield is shot by a mentally disturbed office-seeker, Charles Guiteau, in Washington, DC ; he lingers on until September 19.
1890: The Sherman Antitrust Act is passed, beginning the federal effort to curb monopolies.
1900: The German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin tests his airship for the first time.
1937: Aviator Amelia Earhart and her copilot Fred Noonan disappear during a flight while over the Pacific.
1964: An omnibus civil rights bill is passed by Congress and signed by Pres. Lyndon Johnson, banning discrimination in voting, jobs, and public accommodations.
1979: The U.S. Mint issues the Susan B. Anthony dollar coin.
2000: Mexico 's ruling party, the PRI, is ousted in the presidential election, after ruling the country for 71 years.
2001: 59-year-old Robert Tools receives the world's first fully implantable artificial heart after a 7-hour surgery.
Today's Birthdays
1489: Thomas Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury and Reformation leader (Aslacton, Nottinghamshire, England; died 1556)
1714: Christoph Willibald Gluck, composer (Erasbach , Germany; died 1787)
1877: Hermann Hesse, novelist/poet (Germany; died 1962)
1906: Hans Albrecht Bethe, physicist and Nobel-prize winner (Strasbourg, Alsace-Lorraine; died 2005)
1908: Thurgood Marshall, first African-American Supreme Court justice (Baltimore, MD; died 1993)
1923: Wislawa Szymborska, poet (Kornik, Poland)
1925: Medgar Evers, civil rights leader (Decatur, MS; died 1963)
1927: Brock Peters, actor (New York, NY; died 2005)
1929: Imelda Marcos, former Philippine first lady/political leader (Manila, Philippines)
1932: Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy's (Atlantic City, NJ; died 2002)
1937: Polly Holliday, actress (Jasper, AL). Richard Petty, auto racer (Level Cross, NC)
1942: Vicente Fox, president of Mexico (Mexico City, Mexico)
1946: Ron Silver, actor/director (New York, NY)
1947: Larry David, writer/ producer (Brooklyn, NY)
1956: Jerry Hall, actress-model (Gonzalez, TX)
1964: José Canseco, baseball player (Havana, Cuba)
1986: Lindsay Lohan, actress (New York, NY)
