On this date in

1871 The Great Chicago Fire broke out, eventually leaving 100,000 people homeless. It was one of four fires that broke out that day along the shores of Lake Michgan, the deadliest being in the town of Pershtigo, Wisconsin, which killed more persons (2,500) than any other fire in U.S. history.

1918 Cpl. Alvin York almost single-handedly killed 25 German soldiers and captured another 132 in a World War I battle in the Argonne Forest.

1934 Bruno Hauptmann was indicted for murder in the death of the infant child of aviation pioneer Charles Lindberg.

1944 "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" made its debut on CBS radio.

1956 Don Larsen pitched the only perfect game in World Series history as the New York Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 2-0.

1970 Alexander Solzhenitsyn won the Nobel Prize for literature.

1974 Franklin National Bank collapsed, becoming the largest bank in the United States to fail up to that time.

1982 Poland banned Solidarity and all other labor unions.

2004 Martha Stewart reported to prison to begin serving a sentence for lying about a stock sale.

2005 The Kashmir earthquake killed 86,000 near the Pakistan-India border.

Born on this date
Edward Rickenbacker (1890-1973)
Juan Peron (1895-1974)
Rouben Mamoulian (1897-1987)
Billy Conn (1917-1993)
Walter Lord (1917-2002)
Danny Murtaugh (1917-1976)
Johnny Ramone (1948-2004)

Died on this date
Henry Fielding (1707-1754)
John Hancock (1737-1793)
Franklin Pierce (1804-1869)
Wendell Willkie (1892-1944)
Nigel Bruce (1895-1953)
Clement Attlee (1883-1967)
Fernando Lamas (1915-1982)
Joan Hackett (1934-1983)
Willy Brandt (1913-1992)