Today in History

Anti-Syrian Lebanese Minister and MP Pierre Gemayel assassinated in Beirut.

The Dayton Peace Agreement is initialed at Wright Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio; the agreement, formally ratified in Paris on Dec. 14, ends the three-and-a-half year war between Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Justice Department begins an inquiry into the National Security Council into what will become known as the Iran-Contra scandal.

US Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard arrested for spying and passing classified information to Israel; he received a life sentence on Nov. 1, 1987.

U.S. planes conduct widespread bombing raids in North Vietnam.

President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the air quality act, allotting $428 million for the fight against pollution.

Troy Aikman, pro football quarterback; led Dallas Cowboys to three Super Bowl victories; member of Pro Football Hall of Fame and College Football Hall of Fame.

The United Nations grants Libya its independence by 1952.

George Zimmer, businessman; founded Men’s Wearhouse.

Goldie Hawn, actress, director, producer; gained public attention as part of Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In TV series in the 1960s; won Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Cactus Flower (1969).

Earl “The Pearl” Monroe, pro basketball player known for his flamboyant playing style.

Victor Chang, Chinese Australian cardiac surgeon who pioneered the development of an artificial heart valve.

Cole Porter’s musical Anything Goes premieres at New York’s Alvin Theatre.

Marilyn French, novelist and critic (The Women’s Room).

Police turn machine guns on striking Colorado mine workers, killing five and wounding 20.

Stan “The Man” Musial, Hall of Fame baseball player for the St. Louis Cardinals.

The last German troops leave Alsace-Lorraine, France.

German ace Rudolf von Eschwege is killed over Macedonia when he attacks a booby-trapped observation balloon packed with explosives.

Suffragettes storm Parliament in London. All are arrested and all choose prison terms.

Elizabeth G. Speare, writer of historical novels for children.

Cunard liner Mauritania sets a new speed record for steamship travel, 624 nautical miles in a one day run.

In San Juan, President Theodore Roosevelt pledges citizenship for Puerto Rican people.

Coleman Hawkins, jazz saxophonist.

Rene Magritte, surrealist painter (Golconda).

From Georgia, Confederate General John B. Hood launches the Franklin-Nashville Campaign into Tennessee.

Franklin Colman, a pro-slavery Missourian, guns down Charles Dow, a Free Stater from Ohio, near Lawrence, Kansas.

North Carolina ratifies the Constitution, becoming the 12th state to do it.

Jean de Rozier and the Marquis d’Arlandes make the first free-flight ascent in a balloon to over 500 feet in Paris.

Voltaire (Francois-Marie Arouet), French philosopher, historian, poet, dramatist and novelist.

Leaders of the Mayflower expedition frame the “Mayflower Compact,” designed to bolster unity among the settlers.