On this date
In 1876, frontiersman “Wild Bill” Hickok was shot and killed while playing poker at a saloon in Deadwood, Dakota Territory, by Jack McCall, who was later hanged.
In 1923, the 29th president of the United States, Warren G. Harding, died of a heart attack in San Francisco; Vice President Calvin Coolidge became president.
In 1939, Albert Einstein signed a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt urging creation of an atomic weapons research program.
In 1943, during World War II, U.S. Navy boat PT-109, commanded by Lt. (jg) John F. Kennedy, sank after being rammed in the middle of the night by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri off the Solomon Islands. Two crew members were killed.
In 1967, the crime drama “In the Heat of the Night,” starring Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger, premiered in New York.
In 1974, former White House counsel John W. Dean III was sentenced to one to four years in prison for obstruction of justice in the Watergate cover-up. (Dean ended up serving four months.)
In 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait, seizing control of the oil-rich emirate. (The Iraqis were later driven out in Operation Desert Storm.)
Ten years ago: Mattel apologized to customers as it recalled nearly a million Chinese-made toys from its Fisher-Price division that were found to have excessive amounts of lead in their paint.
Five years ago: Kofi Annan resigned as peace envoy to Syria, blaming the Syrian government’s intransigence, the growing militancy of Syrian rebels and a divided U.N. Security Council that he said failed to forcefully back his effort.
One year ago: President Barack Obama welcomed Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to the White House to celebrate the 50th anniversary of U.S. diplomatic relations with the Southeast Asian city state.