John Roberts(Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court)–
Bridget Fonda(actress)–
Patton Oswalt(actor)–
Died
John James Audubon(ornithologist)–
Giuseppe Verdi(composer)–
Thomas Crapper(inventor)–
Lilli Palmer(actress)–
Claude Atkins(actor)–
Milt Bernhart(big band trombonist)–
Jack Paar(humorist who turned late-night television into a national institution when he was host of The Tonight Show from 1957 to 1962)–
George Doc Abraham(wisecracking gardening guru who teamed up with his wife, Katy, to host one of the longest-running shows on American radio)–
Nick McDonald(policeman who arrested Lee Harvey Oswald at a Dallas movie theater after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963)–
Tige Andrews(actor)–
John Updike(Pulitzer Prize-winning author)–
J.D. Salinger(author)–
Events
Thomas Edison granted patent for incandescent electric lamp –
National Geographic Society incorporated –
The first public demonstration of a true TV was given in London by John Baird –
Honeymoon Bridge over Niagara Falls collapsed due to ice jam –
First U.S. air attack on Germany staged by the Eighth Air Force on the docks of Wilhelmshaven (WW II) –
German guards closed the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp as the Soviet army approached, moving as many prisoners as possible to Western camps –
Last performance of Peter Pan at New York City’s Imperial Theater –
Georgia legislature repealed the state’s public school segregation laws –
Three astronauts died in a flash fire at Cape Kennedy, Florida, while training for the first launch of the Apollo 1 spacecraft –
Representatives from over 60 nations, including the U.S. and USSR, signed the Outer Space Treaty –
Vietnam War Cease-Fire signed in Paris, ending U.S. combat role in Vietnam –
Laverne and Shirley made its television debut –
Michael Jackson’s hair caught fire during filming of a commercial –
Carl Lewis made a long jump of 28 feet 10.06 inches, in New York City –
American sumo wrestler Chad Rowan was awarded the Japanese sport’s highest rank, becoming the first foreign Yokozuna –
National Recording Registry’s first 50 selections announced –
Western Union sent its last telegram –
Weather
Great 48-hour snowstorm dropped 24 inches on New York City –
Florida had 3-day freeze, $10 million in crop loss –
Chicago, Illinois, was covered with 23 inches of snow –
Frigid arctic air in place over New England and New York caused record-breaking temperatures. Burlington, Vermont, broke its old record daily low by 9 degrees, with a reading of -29F, and Caribou, Maine, set a record low for the third day in a row, with a temperature of -23F. –
