Today in History

• Walden
  Henry David Thoreau took up abode in a small cabin he built himself near Walden Pond, where he spent two years in simple living (1845)
• Alice's Adventure's in Wonderland
  Lewis Carroll told Alice Liddell the tale that became the book (1862)
• Lou Gehrig
  afflicted by ALS, the baseball player bid farewell to fans at Yankee Stadium, calling himself that day "the luckiest man on the face of the Earth" (1939)
• Philippines
  gained independence from the US (1946)
• Operation Entebbe
  hostages taken by pro-Palestinian hijackers were rescued by Israeli commandos in Uganda (1976)
• Deep Impact
  space probe fulfilled its primary mission by colliding with Comet 9P/Tempel to allow examination of the comet's interior (2005)

Today's Birthdays

• Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882)
  Italian patriot
• Stephen Foster (1826-1864)
  composer of minstrel songs "Old Folks at Home" and "Camptown Races"
• Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933)
  laconic, no-nonsense 30th POTUS
• Abigail Van Buren (91)
  advice columnist, "Dear Abby"; her identical twin who also wrote a popular advice column, Ann Landers (1918-2002), shared this birth date
• Neil Simon (82)
  Tony/Oscar-winning playwright and screenwriter of The Odd Couple and Lost in Yonkers; plus, novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)
• Gina Lollobrigida (82)
  Italian actor and photographer; actor Eva Marie Saint (85) shares this birth date
• John Waite (54)
  rock singer

What defines the world today?