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Today in History

2005 - The Deep Impact collider hits the comet Tempel 1.
2004 - The cornerstone of the Freedom Tower is laid on the site of the World Trade Center in New York City. (This was largely a symbolic event; actual construction would not start for several weeks)
2002 - Three people are shot at the El Al check-in booth at Los Angeles International Airport. The gunman is shot and killed by a security officer.
1997 - NASA's Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars.
1987 - In France, former Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie (aka the "Butcher of Lyon") is convicted of crimes against humanity and is sentenced to life imprisonment.
1993 - The Argentine national football team defeats mexico to win the Copa América 1993 in Guayaquil.
1982 - Four Iranian diplomats have been kidnapped upon Israel invasion of lebanon.
1976 - Israeli commandos raid Entebbe airport in Uganda, rescuing all of the passengers and crew of an Air France jetliner seized by Palestinian terrorists.
1960 - Due to the post-Independence Day admission of Hawaii as the 50th U.S. state on August 21, 1959, the 50-star flag of the United States debuts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania almost ten and a half months later (see Flag Act).
1950 - First broadcast by Radio Free Europe.

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Today's Birthdays

1995 - María Isabel, Spanish singer
1976 - Daijiro Kato, Japanese motorcycle racer
1973 - Gackt, Japanese singer
1967 - Vinny Castilla, Mexican Major League Baseball player
1961 - Richard Garriott, English video game designer
1946 - Ed O'Ross, American actor
1943 - Geraldo Rivera, American reporter and talk show host
1942 - Floyd Little, American football player
1930 - George Steinbrenner, baseball team owner
1927 - Neil Simon, American playwright

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Today's Deaths

2004 - Jean-Marie Auberson, Swiss conductor (b. 1920)
2002 - Benjamin O. Davis Jr., American general (b. 1912)
1995 - Eva Gabor, Hungarian-born actress (b. 1919)
1991 - Dr. Victor Chang, Australian physician (murdered) (b. 1936)
1977 - Gersh Budker, Russian physicist (b. 1918)
1975 - Georgette Heyer, English author (b. 1902)
1970 - Barnett Newman, American artist (b. 1905)
1934 - Maria Skłodowska-Curie, Polish-born scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in chemistry and physics (b. 1867)
1926 - Pier Giorgio Frassati, Italian mountaineer (b. 1901)
1905 - Élisée Reclus, French geographer and anarchist (b. 1830)

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