This Day in History
1889: The first Pan American Conference convenes in Washington, D.C.
1919: Woodrow Wilson suffers a severe stroke, which will virtually incapacitate him for the remainder of his presidency.
1950: The "Peanuts" comic strip makes its first appearance.
1958: Guinea gains its independence from France.
1967: Thurgood Marshall is sworn in, becoming the first African-American Supreme Court justice.
2001: NATO announces that there is "clear and compelling" evidence to link al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden to the September 11 terrorist attacks and to justify a joint military response.
Today's Birthdays
1452: Richard III, king of England (Northamptonshire, England; died 1485)
1800: Nat Turner, slave who led insurrection (Southampton County, VA; died 1831)
1847: Paul von Hindenburg, German general (Posen--now Poznan, Poland; died 1934)
1851: Ferdinand Foch, commander during WWI (Tarbes, France; died 1929)
1854: Sir Patrick Geddes, biologist and sociologist (Bollater, Scotland; died 1932)
1869: Mohandas Gandhi, Indian political leader (Porbandar, India; died 1948)
1871: Cordell Hull, statesman (Pickett County, TN; died 1955)
1879: Wallace Stevens, poet (Reading, PA; died 1955)
1890: Groucho Marx, comedian (New York, NY; died 1977)
1895: Bud Abbott, comedian in the duo Abbott & Costello (Asbury Park, NJ; died 1974)
1904: Graham Greene, author (Hertfordshire, England; died 1991). Lal Bahadur Shastri, prime minister of India (Mughalsarai, India; died 1966)
1928: George ""Spanky"" McFarland, actor (Dallas, TX; died 1993)
1937: Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., attorney (Shreveport, LA; died 2005)
1945: Don McLean, singer/songwriter (New Rochelle, NY)
1948: Donna Karan, fashion designer (Forest Hills, NY)
1949: Annie Leibovitz, photographer (Westbury, Connecticut)
1951: Sting (Gordon Sumner), musician/songwriter (England)
