1754: - Kings College opened in New York City with eight students and one faculty member, Dr. Samuel Johnson, who also served as college president. The school later became Columbia University.

1873: After waiting 15 years for her church to agree that women could be missionaries, Lottie Moon of Virginia was appointed as a Baptist missionary to China. For 39 years "the cookie lady" taught and ministered to children in China. Today Southern Baptist foreign missions are supported through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.

1949: A new type radio show premiered on NBC dramatizing cases from actual police files. Each show began "The story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent." Dum-de-dum-dum! Dragnet, starring Jack Webb, was born. The show’s first sponsor was Fatima cigarettes.

1956: Johnny Cash made his first appearance on the "Grand Ole Opry."

1972: The FBI swore-in its first-ever female agents: former marine Susan Lynn Roley and former nun Joanne Pierce.

1978: The original Morris the Cat, finicky star of 9-Lives Cat Food commercials, died in Chicago at age 17.

1981: President Reagan announced he was nominating Arizona Judge Sandra Day O'Connor to become the first female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

1982: Michael Fagin broke into Buckingham Palace and had a drunken conversation with Queen Elizabeth while sitting on the end of her bed.

1985: At age 17, Boris Becker became the youngest tennis player to win the men’s singles title at Wimbledon.

1990: Three singers considered by many to be the world’s greatest tenors performed together for the first time in Rome: Carreras, Domingo, and Pavarotti.

1990: At a Las Vegas auction, Leo Dutran of Boston paid $90-thousand for the car Zsa Zsa Gabor was driving when she slapped a Beverly Hills police officer.

1990:  Martina Navratilova won a record ninth women's singles title at Wimbledon, defeating Zina Garrison 6-4, 6-1.

1995: Fletcher and Holly got married on General Hospital.

1996: Synbiotics Corporation of Rancho Bernardo, California, became the first U.S. company to extend group health-care coverage to its 60 employees’ family pets, including dogs, cats, and horses.

2003: A federal judge approved a settlement in which WorldCom would pay a $750 million fine for its $11-billion accounting scandal.

2004: Former Enron chairman Kenneth Lay was indicted on criminal charges related to the energy company's collapse.