This Day in History
1715: Louis XIV of France, the "Sun King," dies at Versailles in the 73d year of his reign.
1807: On trial for treason, former vice-president Aaron Burr is acquitted after a six-month trial in Richmond, Virginia.
1864: Union Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, on his march through Georgia during the Civil War, takes Atlanta.
1870: The Battle of Sedan is fought in northern France. Napoleon III surrenders himself and his army the next day, ending the Franco-Prussian War.
1897: The first U.S. subway line begins service in Boston, running from the Public Gardens to Park St.
1905: Saskatchewan and Alberta enter the Canadian Confederation as the eighth and ninth provinces.
1923: An earthquake measuring 8.3 on the Richter scale hits Yokohama, Japan, killing 143,000 people.
1939: World War II begins when Germany invades Poland.
1951: The ANZUS pact, a mutual-defense pact between Australia, New Zealand (until 1986), and the U.S., is signed.
1969: In Libya, a group of young army officers overthrow the royal government and establish a republic. The revolutionary government is dominated by Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi.
1983: Korean Air Lines Flight 007, flying from New York City to Seoul, South Korea, is shot down after violating Soviet airspace; all 269 people aboard are killed.
1985: A joint U.S.-French expedition of scientists, led by Robert Ballard and using the submersible Argo, discovers the wreck of the Titanic.
Today's Birthdays
1856: Sergei Winogradsky, scientist (Kiev, Russian Empire; died 1953)
1875: Edgar Rice Burroughs, novelist (Chicago, IL; died 1950)
1906: Joaquin Balaguer, president of the Dominican Republic (Villa Bosono, Dominican Republic; died 2002)
1907: Walter Reuther, labor leader (Wheeling, WV; died 1970)
1908: Estee Lauder, founder of cosmetics/fragrance company (New York, NY; died 2004)
1922: Yvonne DeCarlo, actress (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada). Vittorio Gassman, actor (Genoa, Italy; died 2000)
1923: Rocky Marciano, champion boxer (Brockton, MA; died 1969)
1931: Boxcar Willie (Lecil Travis Martin), country singer (Sterrett, TX; died 1999)
1933: Conway Twitty, country singer (Friars Point, MS; died 1993). Ann Richards, former TX governor (Lakeview, TX)
1935: Seiji Ozawa, conductor (Shenyang, China)
1938: Alan Dershowitz, attorney and author (Brooklyn, NY)
1939: Lily Tomlin, actress/comedian (Detroit, MI)
1946: Barry Gibb, singer/songwriter and member of the Bee Gees (Isle of Man, England)
1950: Dr. Phil McGraw, talk-show host, motivational speaker, author (Vinita, OK)
1957: Gloria Estefan, singer (Havana, Cuba)
1966: Tim Hardaway, basketball player (Chicago, IL)
