Today in History, 3/13

1638: Harvard College is named after clergyman John Harvard.
1781: William Herschel discovers Uranus.
1862: During the Civil War, the US government forbids Union officers from returning escaped slaves, effectively nullifying the Fugitive Slave Act and clearing the skids for the Emancipation Proclamation.
1900: In France, the length of the workday for women and children is limited to 11 hours.
1911: L. Ron Hubbard is born. Say what you will about him - the man knew how to work an ascot.1934: Donald Duck is born, although this is disputed.
1935: Leslie Parrish is born. She is best known for playing Daisy Mae in the Li'l Abner movie and the doomed Jocelyn Jordan in The Manchurian Candidate, but she also played Lt. Carolyn Palamas in the Star Trek: TOS episode "Who Mourns for Adonais?" and the drunken Ev in the MST3K episode The Giant Spider Invasion. Wow, Star Trek and MST3K? If she had been in an episode of Doctor Who, she would have made my nerdy trifecta!1939: Neil Sedaka is born. He wrote such songs as "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen" and "Breaking Up is Hard to Do" along with dozens of other hits.

1950: William H. Macy is born. He played The Shoveler in the underrated classic Mystery Men.1955: Glenne Headly is born. She was the romantic interest in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels but she's been in tons of other stuff.1956: Dana Delany is born. She provided the voice of Lois Lane in Superman: TAS.1964: Kitty Genovese is stabbed to death in New York City while 38 neighbors fail to either prevent it or even call the police, even though the attack took place over an hour and she was screaming for help the whole time.1971: Annabeth Gish is born. She was the sidekick in the just awful Shaquille Oneal superhero movie Steel.1986: Microsoft has its first initial public offering.

Today in History elements mostly cribbed from The History Channel, Wikipedia, The New York Times, The Jewish World Review, The Writer's Almanac and anything else I can dig up.