Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

July 21

2005
London Transport Bombings: Four terrorist bombings are targeted at the London Underground and a public bus. The only casualty was from an asthma attack.

1983
Coldest day recorded, -128.6º F (-89º C) in Vostok, Antarctica (It'll be a cold day in July before I...) (source: Guinness Book of World Records)

1976
Legionnaire's disease: An outbreak of the disease at an American Legion convention in Philadelphia kills 29 people.

1959
First atomic-powered merchant ship: The N.S. Savannah is launched.

1931
First regularly scheduled TV program: It was hosted by New York Mayor Jimmy Walker.

1925
Monkey Trial: John Scopes is found guilty of teaching evolution in Tennessee and fined $100.

1923
John Dillinger (age 20) commits his first criminal offense, car theft in Indiana for which he was never caught. He had abandoned it 17 miles away.

1921
First ship sunk by aircraft, in a demonstration by Brig. Gen. William S. Mitchell.

1861
Civil War - First Battle of Bull Run: The first major battle of the war, and from which Stonewall Jackson received his nickname for delaying his attack.

1586
Thomas Cavendish starts his voyage around the world. He completed the voyage in September, 1588, making him the second Englishman to lead an expedition around the world.

1957
Jon Lovitz, American comic. TV: Saturday Night Live.

1951
Robin Williams, American actor. Film: The World According to Garp (1982), Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), and Aladdin (1992, the voice of the genie). TV: Mork & Mindy (Mork from Ork).

1948
Gary Trudeau, American Oscar-Pulitzer-winning cartoonist, creator of Doonesbury. He was the first comic strip artist to win a Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning (1975, prior winners were single-panel cartoonists).

1948
Cat Stevens (Steven Demitri Georgiou), British singer. Music: Wild World (1971) and Oh Very Young (1974). In 1979 he converted to Muslim, disposed of his worldly goods, and changed his name to Yusif Islam.

1946
Kenneth Starr, American lawyer. He investigated the death of the deputy White House counsel Vince Foster, the Whitewater land transactions by President Bill Clinton, and submitted the Starr Report to Congress, which led to Clinton's impeachment on charges arising from the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

1946
Barry "Bean" Whitham, English drummer, with Herman's Hermits. Music: I'm Into Something Good (1964, #1 in UK), Mrs Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter (1965, #1), I'm Henry VII, I Am (1965, #1), and There's a Kind of Hush (1967).

1938     d. 1995
Les Aspin, American politician, U.S. Congressman (1971-93, Wisconsin), U.S. Secretary of Defense (1993-94). He established the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy on homosexuality in the military.

1938
Janet Reno, U.S. Attorney General (1993-2001, the first woman to hold the office). Known for her controversial handling of the Waco disaster and Elian Gonzalez incident.

1926
Paul Burke, American actor. TV: Naked City (Adam Flint), Twelve O'Clock High (Joe Gallagher), and Dynasty (Congressman Neal McVane).

1924     d. 2006
Don Knotts, American Emmy-winning actor. TV: Search For Tomorrow (the mute Wilbur Peabody), The Andy Griffith Show (Deputy Barney Fife), and Three's Company (Mr. Furley). Film: The Incredible Mr. Limpet (1964), The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966), The Reluctant Astronaut (1967), The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975).

1899     d. 1961
Ernest Hemingway, American Nobel and Pulitzer-winning author. Writings: The Sun Also Rises (1926), To Have and Have Not (1937), For Whom the Bell Tolls (194), and The Old Man and the Sea (1952, Pulitzer).

1881     d. 1967
George Frederick Dick, American physician. He and wife determined the cause of scarlet fever (1924) and developed an immunization for it.

1620     d. 1682
Jean Picard, French astronomer, regarded as the founder of modern astronomy in France. He was the first to measure the diameter of the Earth to a reasonable degree of accuracy. He calculated the diameter to be 3,959 miles (6372 km) as opposed to the current value of 3,950 miles (6357 km).

1414     d. 1484
Sixtus IV, Italian religious leader, 212th Pope (1471-84).

1994     b. 1926
Dorothy Collins (Marjorie Chandler), Canadian-born actress. TV: Your Hit Parade (the Lucky Strikes Lady) and Candid Camera (practical joker).

1938     b. 1860
Owen Wister, American author. Writings: The Virginian (1902, which has been made into movies and a TV series).

1796     b. 1759
Robert Burns, Scottish poet. He penned the words to Auld Lang Syne (c1789).

1758     b. 1685
Thomas Fleet, American printer, he published (1719) a book of nursery rhymes that his mother-in-law sang to his son. Since her name was Goose, they became Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes.

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