On this day in...

On this day in...
1892 – William "Pudge" Heffelfinger becomes the first professional American football player on record, participating in his first paid game for the Allegheny Athletic Association.
1927 – Leon Trotsky is expelled from the Soviet Communist Party, leaving Joseph Stalin in undisputed control of the Soviet Union.
1936 – In California, the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge opens to traffic.
1948 – In Tokyo, an international war crimes tribunal sentences seven Japanese military and government officials to death, including General Hideki Tojo, for their roles in World War II.
1979 – Iran hostage crisis: In response to the hostage situation in Tehran, US President Jimmy Carter orders a halt to all petroleum imports into the United States from Iran.

Births
1934 – Charles Manson, American cult leader
1943 – Wallace Shawn, American actor and playwright
1945 – Neil Young, Canadian singer and musician
1958 – Megan Mullally, American actress and singer
1968 – Sammy Sosa, Dominican baseball player
1970 – Tonya Harding, American figure skater
1982 – Anne Hathaway, American actress

Pretty good slate of birthdays today with a deranged lunatic and Charles Manson. I was referring to Tonya Harding of course. Wallace Shawn, by the way, was the obnoxious card dealer in "Vegas Vacation." He was also in "Princess Bride." Clay met him one time at Prude Ranch and said he was a pleasant man but looked like he was on his death bed.

And I'm sure Sammy Sosa is having a wonderful day. He got his birthday wish. He's almost white now. More on that below.