1775: Paul Revere began his famous ride from Charlestown to Lexington, Mass., warning American colonists that the British were coming.
1861: Robert E. Lee turns down President Lincoln's offer of command of the Union Army.
1906: Devastating earthquake struck San Francisco, followed by raging fires; estimates of the final death toll range between 3,000 and 6,000.
1906: The Hawaii Promotion Committee suggests inviting Mark Twain to the Islands.
Born Today:
Ruthless Renaissance noblewoman Lucrezia Borgia (1480-1519)
Dramatist Thomas Middleton (1580-1627)
French ballet dancer Gaetano Vestris (1729-1808)
Psychologist George Henry Lewes (1817-1878)
Scopes "Monkey Trial" Attorney Clarence Darrow (1857–1938)
Spanish-American War Journalist Richard Harding Davis (1864-1916)
Painter, printmaker Max Weber (1881-1961)
Conductor Leopold Stokowski (1882-1977)
Australian operatic soprano Sylvia Fisher (1910-1996)
Actress Hayley Mills (1946)
Actor James Woods (1947)
US feminist, writer Susan Faludi (1959)
Television personality Conan O' Brien (1963)
Actor Robert Kelker-Kelly (1964)
Ugly Betty actress America Ferrera (1984)
"Science is the systematic classification of experience." ~ George Henry Lewes
