356 BC: A young man called Herostratus set fire to the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.1774: The Russo-Turkish War ends with the signing of the Treaty of Kuchuk-Kainarji. This was a humiliating blow to the once-mighty Ottoman Empire.
1861: The First Battle of Bull Run takes place at Manassass Junction, VA with a Confederate victory.
1865: In the market square of Springfield, Missouri, Wild Bill Hickok shoots Dave Tutt dead in what is regarded as the first true western showdown.
1873: At Adair, Iowa, Jesse James and the James-Younger Gang pull off the first successful train robbery in the American West.1899: Ernest Hemingway is born.
1911: Marshall McLuhan is born.
1919: The dirigible Wingfoot Air Express crashed into the Illinois Trust and Savings Building in Chicago, killing 12 people.1924: Don Knotts is born.
1926: Norman Jewison is born. He directed the original Rollerball.1931: CBS's New York City station begins broadcasting the first regular seven days a week television schedule in the U.S.
1943: Edward Hermann is born. He played the evil head vampire in The Lost Boys and these days does voice overs for History Channel documentaries, even when not appropriate. For example, his broad Midwestern accent doesn't match well with Russia: Land of the Tsars.
1944: Tony Scott is born. He's RidleyScott's more profitable, less artsy brother. He directed Top Gun.
1946: Barry Whitwam, drummer for Herman's Hermits, is born.
1948: Yusef Islam, aka Cat Stevens, is born.
1948: Gary Trudeau is born.
1951: Robin Williams is born. He he is on an old episode of Mork & Mindy guest starring a very young David Letterman.1954: The Geneva Conference partitions Vietnam into North Vietnam and South Vietnam.
1957: Jon Lovitz is born. He's best known these days for beating up Andy Dick in a Los Angeles bar after Dick disparaged the memory of Phil Hartman.
1960: Lance Guest, from The Last Starfighter is born.1970: After 11 years of construction, the Aswan High Dam in Egypt is completed.
1983: The world's lowest temperature is recorded at Vostok Station, Antarctica at -129°F.1997: The fully restored USS Constitution (aka "Old Ironsides") celebrates her 200th birthday by setting sail for the first time in 116 years.
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.
