TODAY IN HISTORY
In 1783, the British evacuated New York during the Revolutionary War.
In 1914, baseball Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio was born in Martinez, California.
In 1915, a new version of the Ku Klux Klan, targeting blacks, Jews, Catholics and immigrants, was founded by William Joseph Simmons.
In 1947, movie studio executives meeting in New York agreed to blacklist the writers, producers and directors known as the “Hollywood Ten,” who had been cited for contempt of Congress the day before.
In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower had a slight stroke.
In 1961, the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Enterprise, was commissioned.
In 1963, the body of President John F. Kennedy was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery; his widow, Jacqueline, lighted an “eternal flame” at the gravesite.
In 1986, the Iran-Contra affair erupted as President Ronald Reagan and Attorney General Edwin Meese revealed that profits from secret arms sales to Iran had been diverted to Nicaraguan rebels.
In 1999, Elian Gonzalez, a 5-year-old Cuban boy, was rescued by a pair of sport fishermen off the coast of Florida, setting off an international custody battle.
In 2001, as the war in Afghanistan entered its eighth week, CIA officer Johnny “Mike” Spann was killed during a prison uprising in Mazar-e-Sharif, becoming America’s first combat casualty of the conflict.
In 2002, President George W. Bush signed legislation creating the Department of Homeland Security, and appointed Tom Ridge to be its head.
In 2009, Toyota said it would replace the gas pedals on 4 million vehicles in the United States because the pedals could get stuck in the floor mats and cause sudden acceleration.
In 2012, YouTube announced that “Gangnam Style” by South Korean rapper PSY had become the site’s most watched video to that time, with more than 805 million viewings.
In 2013, prosecutors closed their yearlong investigation into the shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, that claimed the lives of 26 victims, 20 of them children; their report said the motive of gunman Adam Lanza, who also killed his mother and himself, might never be known.
In 2016, Fidel Castro, who led his rebels to victorious revolution in 1959, embraced Soviet-style communism and defied the power of 10 U.S. presidents during his half-century of rule in Cuba, died at age 90.
In 2021, a methane explosion in a coal mine in Siberia quickly filled the mine with toxic smoke; authorities said 46 miners and five rescuers were killed.
BIRTHDAYS
Actor Kathryn Crosby is 90.
Actor Christopher Riordan is 86.
Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs is 83.
Singer Bob Lind is 81.
Author, actor and economist Ben Stein is 79.
Actor John Larroquette is 76.
Actor Tracey Walter is 76.
Movie director Jonathan Kaplan is 76.
Author Charlaine Harris is 72.
Retired MLB All-Star Bucky Dent is 72.
Dance judge Bruno Tonioli (TV: “Dancing with the Stars”) is 68.
Singer Amy Grant is 63.
Former NFL quarterback Bernie Kosar is 60.
Rock musician Scott Mercado is 59.
Rock singer-musician Tim Armstrong is 58.
Actor Steve Harris is 58.
Actor Billy Burke is 57.
Singer Stacy Lattisaw is 57.
Rock musician Rodney Sheppard (Sugar Ray) is 57.
Rapper-producer Erick Sermon is 55.
Actor Jill Hennessy is 54.
Actor Christina Applegate is 52.
Actor Eddie Steeples is 50.
Actor Kristian Nairn is 48.
Former NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb is 47.
Actor Jill Flint is 46.
Actor Jerry Ferrara is 44.
Actor Joel Kinnaman is 44.
Actor Valerie Azlynn is 43.
Former first daughter Barbara Pierce Bush is 42.
Former first daughter Jenna Bush Hager is 42.
Actor Katie Cassidy is 37.
Actor Stephanie Hsu is 33.
Contemporary Christian singer Jamie Grace is 32.
