Today in History

A gunman armed with a semi-automatic rifle kills 8 people at Westroads Mall, Omaha, Neb., before taking his own life.

Commodore Frank Bainimarama overthrows the government in Fiji.

Military Junta dissolves in Argentina.

The Soviet Union signs a 20-year friendship pact with Afghanistan.

Morgan J. Freeman, film director; his Hurricane Streets (1997) was the first narrative film to win three awards at the Sundance Film Festival; produced MTV reality shows (16 and Pregnant, Teen Mom).

Comedian and political activist Dick Gregory heads for Hanoi, North Vietnam, despite federal warnings against it.

Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards, first to represent Great Britain in Olympic ski jumping.

A bus boycott begins under the leadership of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., in Montgomery, Alabama.

Italy and Yugoslavia agree to pull troops out of the disputed Trieste border.

Pyongyang in Korea falls to the invading Chinese army.

Jim Plunkett, pro football quarterback.

Four TBM Avenger bombers disappear approximately 100 miles off the coast of Florida.

The Lindberghs arrive in New York on a holiday visit after a two-year voluntary exile.

The New Constitution in the Soviet Union promises universal suffrage, but the Communist Party remains the only legal political party.

Calvin Trillin, journalist and writer.