This Day in History
1636: Harvard College is founded, the oldest institution of higher education in the United States.
1776: In the Battle of White Plains, an engagement of the American Revolution, the British miss the chance to destroy the Continental Army and win the war in a single battle.
1886: The Statue of Liberty is dedicated by President Grover Cleveland.
1918: The republic of Czechoslovakia is founded.
1919: The Volstead Act is enacted to enforce the 18th Amendment on Prohibition.
1962: President John F. Kennedy and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev agree on a formula to end the Cuban missile crisis.
1997: After falling more than 554 points the previous day, the Dow Jones industrial average rebounds, surging a record 337.17 points in a single day.
2002: A U.S. diplomat, Lawrence Foley, is assassinated in Amman, Jordan.
2005: Vice President Richard Cheney's chief of staff I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby resigns after being indicted in an investigation into the leak of a CIA operative's identity to the press.
Today's Birthdays
1585: Cornelius Jansen, religious reformer (Acquoi, near Leerdam, Holland; died 1638)
1793: Eliphalet Remington, firearms manufacturer (Suffield, CT; died 1861)
1896: Howard Hanson, composer (Wahoo, NE; died 1981)
1902: Elsa Lanchester, actress (Britain; died 1986)
1903: Evelyn Waugh, writer (London, England; died 1966)
1914: Jonas Salk, physician and developer of the polio vaccine (New York, NY; died 1995)
1926: Bowie Kuhn, baseball commissioner (Takoma Park, MD)
1929: Joan Plowright, actress (Brigg, England)
1936: Charlie Daniels, singer/songwriter/musician (Wilmington, NC)
1937: Lenny Wilkens, basketball coach and player (Brooklyn, NY)
1939: Jane Alexander, actress (Boston, MA)
1944: Dennis Franz, actor (Maywood, IL)
1945: Samuel ""Sandy"" Berger, former national security adviser (Sharon, CT)
1949: Bruce Jenner, Olympic decathlon champion (Mount Kisco, NY)
1952: Annie Potts, actress (Nashville, TN)
1955: Bill Gates, Microsoft executive (Seattle, WA)
1956: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of Iran (Garmsar, Iran)
1964: Paul Wylie, figure skater (Dallas, TX)
1966: Andy Richter, actor/comedian (Grand Rapids, MI)
1967: Julia Roberts, actress (Smyrna, GA)
1974: Joaquin Phoenix, actor (San Juan, Puerto Rico)
1978: Justin Guarini, singer (Colombus, GA)
