On this day :
1957 Sputnik launched, 1777 Both sides battered at Germantown, 1937 Blues singer Bessie Smith killed in Mississippi car wreck is buried, 1861 Lincoln watches a balloon ascension, 1957 Soviet Union launches Sputnik I, 1988 Jim Bakker is indicted on federal charges, 2011 Man who served 25 years for murder exonerated by DNA, 1992 Plane crashes into apartment building, 1777 The Battle of Germantown, 1965 Pope visits US, 1993 White House siege ends in Moscow, 1990 Beverly Hills 90210 debuts, 1941 Anne Rice is born, 1970 Janis Joplin dies of a heroin overdose, 1861 Frederic Remington is born in Canton New York, 1822 Rutherford B Hayes is born, 1927 Work begins on Mount Rushmore, 1955 Socalled Brooklyn bums win their first World Series, 1964 Johnson orders the commencement of Oplan 34A raids, 1966 Pope calls for end to the Vietnam War, 1918 Germany telegraphs President Wilson seeking armistice, 1943 Heinrich Himmler encourages his SS group leaders, 1944 Ike warns of the risk of shell shock,
