This Day in History
1923: Pres. Warren G. Harding dies after falling ill; he is succeeded by Vice Pres. Calvin Coolidge.
1939: Albert Einstein writes a letter to Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt alerting him to the opportunity to construct an atomic bomb.
1945: The Potsdam Conference ends, with the leaders of the United States, the Soviet Union, and Britain agreeing on the disarmament of Germany, occupation zones, and war crimes trials.
1974: John Dean, former aide to Pres. Richard Nixon, is sentenced to 3 years in prison after pleading guilty in the Watergate cover-up.
1990: Saddam Hussein orders the Iraqi army to invade Kuwait, sparking an international crisis and Operation Desert Storm.
Today's Birthdays
1754: Pierre Charles L'Enfant, Revolutionary War officer, architect/engineer, and designer of the plan for Washington, D.C. (Paris, France; died 1825)
1905: Myrna Loy, actress (near Helena, MT; died 1993)
1918: Beatrice Straight, actress (Old Westbury, NY; died 2001)
1924: James Baldwin, author/playwright (New York, NY; died 1987). Carroll O'Connor, actor (New York, NY; died 2001)
1932: Peter O'Toole, actor (Connemara, Ireland)
1939: John Snow, former treasury secretary and CSX CEO (Toledo, OH)
1942: Isabel Allende, writer (Lima, Peru)
1944: Joanna Cassidy, actress (Camden, NJ)
1949: James Fallows, journalist/magazine editor (Philadelphia, PA)
1964: Mary-Louise Parker, actress (Fort Jackson, SC)
1977: Edward Furlong, actor (Glendale, CA)
