Today in History

Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants breaks Hank Aaron’s record with his 756th home run. Bonds’ accomplishments were clouded by allegations of illegal steroid use and lying to a grand jury.

Operation Desert Shield begins as US troops deploy to Saudi Arabia to discourage Iraq’s Saddam Hussein from invading that country as he had Kuwait.

Presidents of five Central American nations sign a peace accord in Guatemala.

Japan defeats the United States to win the Olympic Gold in baseball.

The Washington (D.C.) Star ceases publication after 128 years.

The US Viking 2 spacecraft goes into orbit around Mars.

Charlize Theron, model and Academy Award-winning actress (Monster).

A U.S. plane accidentally bombs a Cambodian village, killing 400 civilians.

Apollo 15 returns to Earth. The mission to the moon had marked the first use of the Lunar Roving Vehicle.

Jimmy Donal “Jimbo” Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia.

Congress overwhelmingly passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, allowing the president to use unlimited military force to prevent attacks on U.S. forces.

Patrick Kennedy, son of President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy; dies 39 hours later.

Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter (“Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight,” “Ain’t Living Long Like This”) and author (Chinaberry Sidewalks) Rodney Crowell.

German forces launch a major counter attack against U.S. forces near Mortain, France.

Garrison Keillor, American humorist and writer, creator of the long-running PBS program A Prairie Home Companion.

The United States declares non-intervention in the Spanish Civil War.

In Washington, the U.S. Court of Appeals rules that the government can neither confiscate nor ban James Joyce’s novel Ulysses.

Abebe Bikila, barefoot runner from Ethiopia, winner of the 1960 Olympic marathon.

Edwin Edwards, governor of Louisiana.

The Irish Republican Army cuts the cable link between the United States and Europe at Waterville landing station.

Persia forms an alliance with Britain and Russia.

In North Carolina, a mob defies a court order and lynches three African Americans which becomes known as “The Lyerly Murders.”

Ralph Bunche, U.S. diplomat and the first African-American Nobel Prize winner.

Louis Leakey, anthropologist, archeologist and paleontologist; believed Africa was the cradle of mankind.

Theophilus Van Kannel of Philadelphia receives a patent for the revolving door.

Mata Hari, [Margaretha G. Macleod] who passed secrets to the Germans in World War I.

Union troops capture part of Confederate General Jubal Early‘s army at Moorefield, West Virginia.

General George Washington authorizes the award of the Purple Heart for soldiers wounded in combat.