1502: Christopher Columbus lands at Costa Rica on his fourth, and final, voyage.
1679: New Hampshire becomes a county of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
1709: Samuel Johnson is born.
1793: The first cornerstone of the Capitol building is laid by George Washington.1837: Tiffany and Co. (first named Tiffany & Young) is founded by Charles Lewis Tiffany and John B. Young in New York City, New York. The store was called a "stationery and fancy goods emporium".
1850: The U.S. Congress passes the Fugitive Slave Act. It stated that free states were required by law to return runaway slaves to the south.
1851: The New-York Daily Times, which will become The New York Times, begins publishing.
1879: The Blackpool Illuminations are switched on for the first time.
1885: Riots break out in Montreal to protest compulsory smallpox vaccination.1895: Daniel David Palmer gives the first chiropractic adjustment.
1905: Greta Garbo is born.
1914: The Irish Home Rule Act becomes law, but is delayed until after World War I.1919: Fritz Pollard becomes the first African-American to play professional football for a major team, the Akron Pros.
1927: The Columbia Broadcasting System goes on the air.
1928: Juan de la Cierva makes first autogyro crossing of the English Channel. I wonder what the Gyro Captain would say?
1932: Actress Peg Entwistle commits suicide by jumping from the letter "H" in the Hollywood sign.
1933: Robert Blake is born. He played Baratta.1934: The Soviet Union is admitted to the League of Nations.
1939: William Joyce, aka Lord Haw Haw, makes his first propaganda broadcast for the Nazis.
1939: Frankie Avalon is born. He was married with kids before he ever starred as Annette's love interest in the Beach Party movies.1939: Fred Willard is born. Here he is on Real People from seemingly a lifetime ago. I dare you not to laugh when the announcer says "Sarah Purcell views the latest in watersports!"
1945: General Douglas MacArthur moves his command headquarters to Tokyo.
1952: Dee Dee Ramone, bassist for The Ramones is born.
1961: James Gandolfini is born. It's considered fashionable to sneer at The Sopranos these days (and compare it to The Wire) but it's still one of my favorite shows.
1970: Jimi Hendrix dies after choking on his own vomit.1975: Patty Hearst is arrested after a year on the FBI Most Wanted List.
1977: Voyager 1 takes the first photograph of the Earth and Moon together.
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.
