BIRTHDAYS:
1819, Walt Whitman, poet.

1857, Pope Pius XI (Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti) 259th pope of the Roman Catholic Church [1922-1939]

1894, Fred Allen, Comedian, radio star.

1898, Norman Vincent Peale

1908, Don Ameche, Actor.

1922, Denholm Elliott, Actor.

1930, Clint Eastwood, Dirty Harry.

1933, Shirley Verrett, opera singer.

1938, Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul & Mary.

1941, Johnny Paycheck, country singer.

1943, Joe Namath, athlete.

1950, Tom Berenger, Actor.

1950, Gregory Harrison, Actor.

1961, Lea Thompson, Actress.

1965, Brooke Shields, Actress.


EVENTS:
1678, Lady Godiva takes a ride through Coventry.

1837, New York's Astor Hotel opens ... most elaborate in the U.S.

1859, Town Ball was created, which became baseball 20 years later.

1868, First recorded bicycle race, 2 kilometers in Paris.

1870, Asphalt pavement is patented by E.J. DeSemdt.

1879, First electric railway opens at Berlin Trades Exposition.

1880, Leage of American Wheelman is formed in Rhode Island.

1889, Johnstown Flood occurs, killing 2,300 people.

1907, Taxis arrive in New York City.

1929, First reindeer born in the United States (Not the North Pole).

1941, First issue of Parade magazine is published.

1976, The Who puts on the loudest concert in recorded history with 76,000 watts at 120 decibels.

The birth of a man is the birth of his sorrow. The longer he lives, the more stupid he becomes, because his anxiety to avoid unavoidable death becomes more and more acute. What bitterness! He lives for what is always out of reach! His thirst for survival in the future makes him incapable of living in the present.
- Chuang Tzu