Who was born on this date?

1307 - The Swiss Confederation declared itself independent of Austria.

1520 - Christian II of Denmark was crowned King of Sweden, and granted an amnesty to his opponents.

1605 - In London, Guy Fawkes was arrested under the House of Commons preparing gunpowder to blow up the building when Parliament re-assembled the next day.

1842 - 16th United States President Abraham Lincoln married Mary Todd in Springfield, Illinois.

1846 - B.F. Palmer of Meredith, New Hampshire patented an artificial leg.

1854 - Florence Nightingale and a team of 38 nurses arrived in the Crimea to set up a hospital for British troops at Scutari.

1862 - The first rapid-fire machine gun was patented by Richard Jordan Gatling in Indianapolis, and named after him.

1873 - A gold crown for teeth was patented by Dr. John B. Beers of San Francisco, California.

1879 - The first cash register was patented by James J. Ritty of Dayton, Ohio.

1884 - Democrat Grover Cleveland was elected to his first term as president, defeating Republican James G. Blaine.

1890 - The first electrified underground railway system was officially opened in London.

1918 - The allied powers in World War I agreed on peace terms for Germany based on United States President Wilson's "Fourteen Points."

1921 - Takashi Hara, prime minister of Japan, was assassinated by a rightist fanatic.

1922 - English archaeologist Howard Carter found the first signs of what proved to be King Tutankhamen's tomb in the Valley of the Tombs of Kings in Egypt.

1924 - Nellie T. Ross of Wyoming was elected the nation's first woman governor; she was to serve the remaining term of William B. Ross, her husband who died in office.

1928 - Charlie Chaplin's silent film classic, The Kid, with 12-year-old Jackie Coogan, opened in Paris.

1935 - Frances Shields, tennis star, signed a 7-year acting contract with MGM's Samuel Goldwyn. She spent a lot of time on the set and she netted a sizable portion of fame by playing great characters.

1938 - On Decca records, Bing Crosby recorded "You’re a Sweet Little Headache", from the movie "Paris Honeymoon".

1942 - British troops defeated the Germans under General Rommel at El Alamein after a 12-day battle.

1946 - The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was formed.

1947 - Tennessee William's gripping play, A Streetcar Named Desire, opened in New York.

1949 - On NBC-TV, "One Man’s Family" debuted for the first of its 3 seasons. It was also one of radio's longest running programs from 1933 to 1959.

1950 - The Oklahoma Sooners won their 27th straight victory without loss or tie by defeating the University of Colorado, 27-18, breaking Cornell's 1921-24 uninterrupted winning streak for a major college football team.

1952 - Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected president of the United States.

1954 - 20 year old Florence Henderson joined Ezio Pinza and Walter Slezak in the Broadway production of "Fanny". The show lit up the stage 888 times.

1955 - Legendary baseball pitcher, Cy Young, died at age 88.

1956 - Soviet troops moved in to crush the Hungarian uprising. Imre Nagy was ousted as prime minister and replaced by Janos Kadar.

1956 - A survey said the average football coaches' salary at state universities was $11,005.

1962 - It was Bob Dylan's his first major concert outside Greenwich Village, but the solo appearance at Carnegie Hall was not well attended.

1963 - As part of an evening of entertainment for England's Queen Elizabeth, the Beatles played a Royal Command Performance at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London. David Frost acted as the emcee.

1966 - The worst floods in Italy's history affected a third of the country. Florence was cut off and many of the city's art treasures were damaged.

1970 - The rock band Jethro Tull became the first group to perform at Carnegie Hall. The band's name came from the inventor of the seed drill.

1973 - Ben Crenshaw, golfing great, won his first pro-tour tournament at the Texas Open.

1973 - The Chicago Bears set a National Football League record when they held the Green Bay Packers to a minus 12 yards passing.

1977 - The United Nations imposed a mandatory ban on arms supplies to South Africa in an effort to force the country out of Namibia.

1978 - You Don't Bring Me Flowers, recorded by Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond, debuted on Billboard's Top 40 pop charts, and remained there for 15 weeks. It was in the Number 1 position for 2 weeks, and eventually went gold.

1979 - Iranian militants seized the United States embassy in Tehran and captured 90 hostages; 52 were held captive for 444 days.

1980 - Ronald Reagan was elected president of the United States.

1980 - Sadaharu Oh, first baseman of the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants, retired from professional baseball after hitting a record 868 home runs during his 22-year playing career.

1982 - The United Nations passed a resolution calling on Argentina and Britain to discuss sovereignty of the Falkland Islands.

1983 - In Lebanon, over 40 Israeli soldiers were killed when an Arab suicide bomber drove a truck full of explosives into their camp.

1984 - Rockstar Prince started his fall tour in Detroit, Michigan, breaking the record for sold-out performances at the 20,000-seat Joe Louis Arena. The previous record-holder was Neil Diamond in 1983.

1988 - An attempted coup by foreign mercenaries on the Maldive Islands was thwarted when Indian paratroopers crushed the revolt.

1990 - Actress and singer Mary Martin, mother of actor Larry Hagman, died of cancer at age 77. Martin would be best remembered for her definitive performance on the stage and on television as the boy who wouldn't grow up, Peter Pan.

1991 - Former President Reagan opened his library in Simi Valley, California with a dedication ceremony attended by President Bush and former presidents Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon.

1995 - Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a right-wing Israeli after attending a peace rally in Tel Aviv.