1898: During the Spanish-American War, American troops enter the city of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.1919: The Constitution of the Weimar Republic is adopted.
1929: Babe Ruth becomes the first baseball player to hit 500 home runs in his career with a home run at League Park in Cleveland, Ohio.
1921: Alex Haley, author of Roots and The Autobiography of Malcolm X, is born.
1925: Mike Douglas is born.1926: Claus von Bulow, alleged murderer, is born.
1934: The federal prison at Alcatraz opens.
1944: Ian McDiarmid is born. He is best known for playing Emperor Palpatine in the Star Wars movies.
1946: Marilyn vos Savant, super-genius, is born.
1949: Eric Carmen is born. He sang songs like "All By Myself" and "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again."1950: Steve Wozniak, computer pioneer, is born.
1953: Hulk Hogan is born, brother!1954: Joe Jackson is born. He did the song "Is She Really Going Out With Him?"
1957: Richie Ramone, drummer for The Ramones, is born.
1964: Jim Lee, comic book artist is born.
1965: Race riots begin in Watts area of Los Angeles.1967: Joe Rogan is born. He was great on Newsradio but the rest of his career (ie, Fear Factor) has been one big "meh."
1984: President Ronald Reagan jokes during a voice test for a paid political radio address that he had "signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes."
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.
