Who was born on this date?

1797 - The United States Navy frigate "Constitution," also known as "Old Ironsides," was launched in Boston's harbor.

1805 - A British fleet commanded by Adm. Horatio Nelson defeated a French-Spanish fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar; Nelson, however, was killed.

1824 - Portland cement, the modern building material, was first patented by Joseph Aspdin of Wakefield in Yorkshire.

1849 - At the Franklin Theatre in New York, James F. O'Connell, the first tattooed man was put on exhibition.

1879 - After 14 months of experimentation in Menlo Park, New Jersey, Thomas Alva Edison produced a working prototype of the electric incandescent lamp, which could burn for thirteen and a half hours.

1907 - In New York, "The Merry Widow" starring Ethel Jackson and Donald Brian opened. Europe had been introduced to the operetta two years earlier.

1908 - An ad in the "Saturday Evening Post" offered the first chance to buy a two-sided record from the Columbia label.

1915 - The first direct transatlantic speech relay by radio telephone was made by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company from Arlington, Virginia to Paris.

1917 - Members of the First Division of the United States Army training in Luneville, France, became the first Americans to see action on the front lines of World War I.

1918 - Margaret Owen of New York City set a speed record for typing when she typed 170 words per minute on a manual typewriter.

1923 - The first planetarium was opened at the Deutsche Museum in Munich.

1924 - At New York’s Cinderella Ballroom, the audienced enjoyed the Wolverines from Chicago, and cornet player Bix Beiderbecke.

1938 - Jan Savitt's orchestra recorded "Quaker City Jazz" on the Bluebird label, which would become the band's theme. The song was recorded in New York City, and not Philadelphia, the Quaker City.

1925 - In New York City, the photoelectric cell, the device that decides when to turn your flood lights on and off, was first demonstrated at the Electric Show.

1925 - The United States Treasury Department announced 29,620 people had been find for violations of prohibition back when alcohol was illegal. The grand total for the fines was $5,000,000.

1934 - Chinese Communist forces led by Mao Zedong began an attempt to break out of encirclement in Jiangxi province by Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist Army. The "Long March" to safety through hostile lands to Yanan, 6,000 miles (9,600 km) to the north, took almost a year.

1937 - In the Spanish Civil War, Franco's troops captured Gijon, securing their control of northwest Spain.

1938 - After months of bombing, the Japanese finally took the Chinese city of Canton.

1940 - British Prime Minister Winston Churchill taunted Adolf Hitler in a radio broadcast: "We are waiting for the long-promised invasion..... so are the fishes."

1944 - During World War II, United States troops captured the German city of Aachen.

1945 - Women in France were allowed to vote for the first time.

1950 - Chinese forces began their occupation of Tibet.

1953 - Randy Turpin got the snot knocked out of him by Carl "Bobo" Olson at a middleweight boxing match in Madison Square Garden, New York City.

1954 - Ian Fleming's aristocratic spy, James Bond, made his film debut when first portrayed by actor Barry Nelson in an episode of the television series Climax, titled "Casino Royale" in 1954.

1958 - The first rock song to use orchestral strings was recorded by Buddy Holly. "It Doesn’t Matter Anymore", written by Paul Anka, would unfortunately be Holly’s last studio session before his death. The song wouldn't be released until after his death in February of 1959.

1959 - The Guggenheim Museum opened to the public in New York.

1960 - The fourth, and final, debate before presidential elections between United States Senator John F. Kennedy and then current United States Vice President Richard M. Nixon was television broadcast from New York City.

1960 - HMS Dreadnought, Britain's first nuclear submarine, was launched by Queen Elizabeth.

1966 - A colliery slag heap slid and buried a school in the Welsh village of Aberfan, killing 116 children and 28 adults.

1967 - To Sir With Love, recorded by Scottish singer Lulu, rocketed to the Number 1 spot on Billboard's record charts, and stayed there for 5 weeks.

1967 - Tens of thousands of Vietnam War protesters marched in Washington.

1967 - The Egyptian navy sunk the Israeli destroyer Eilat off Sinai.

1969 - Willy Brandt was elected Chancellor of West Germany, at the head of a Social Democrat-FDP coalition.

1971 - President Nixon nominated Lewis F. Powell and William H. Rehnquist for the United States Supreme Court.

1973 - After taking his team to their second consecutive World Series title, baseball manager of the Oakland A's, Dick Williams, turned in his last lineup card as their manager.

1979 - Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan resigned over the government's refusal to negotiate with Palestinians.

1980 - For the first time in 98 years, the Philadelphia Phillies won their first World Series, beating the Kansas City Royals at a game in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1982 - Hissene Habre was sworn in as president of Chad.

1983 - The Pentagon reported that 2,000 Marines were headed to Grenada to protect and evacuate Americans living there.

1985 - Chicago Bear, William "The Refrigerator" Perry led his team to a 23-7 win over the Green Bay Packers. Perry, who weighed 325 pounds, became a folk hero when he cut a path for Walter Payton’s two touchdowns before plodding over the goal line himself for another score.

1985 - The Commonwealth heads of government meeting ended in the Bahamas with agreement to pressurize South Africa to dismantle apartheid, but without the all-out sanctions some had asked for.

1986 - Pro-Iranian kidnappers in Lebanon claimed that they had abducted American writer Edward Tracy. He was not released until August of 1991.

1986 - The United States ordered 55 Soviet diplomats to leave. The action was in reaction to the Soviet Union expelling five American diplomats.

1988 - A federal grand jury in New York indicted former Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos and his wife, Imelda, on charges of fraud and racketeering.

1988 - The Lair of the White Worm, based on Bram Stoker's little-known novel, opened in theaters. The outlandish horror film, directed by Ken Russell, starred Amanda Donohoe, Hugh Grant, and Catherine Oxenberg.

1990 - Dany Chamoun, leader of the National Liberal Party in Lebanon, was assassinated with members of his family.

1991 - United States hostage Jesse Turner was released from nearly five years in captivity in Beirut.

1993 - President Ndadaye died in an abortive military coup in Burundi.

1994 - North Korea and the United States signed an agreement requiring North Korea halt its nuclear program and agree to inspections.

1998 - 68 people were arrested in Indonesia for the killing spree that left nine suspected murderers dead.

1998 - It was reported that Dominique Moceanu, the pixie-like member of the 1996 United States Olympic team that won a gold medal in gymnastics, was suing for independence from her parents, saying they squandered her fortune and oppressed her for years. Miss Moceanu, 17, ran away from her parents three days earlier. She filed a lawsuit in state court asking to be declared a legal adult so her parents couldn't control her or her money, the Houston Chronicle reported on this date. A judge signed a temporary restraining order saying Dumitru and Camelia Moceanu must stay away from the gymnast until a November 11 hearing. At 14, Moceanu was the youngest member of the 1996 Olympic team at the Atlanta Games.