On this day in..

On this day in...
1822 – Florida Territory created in the United States.
1842 – Anesthesia is used for the first time in an operation by Dr. Crawford Long.
1856 – The Treaty of Paris is signed, ending the Crimean War.
1858 – Hymen Lipman patents a pencil with an attached eraser.
1867 – Alaska is purchased for $7.2 million, about 2 cent/acre ($4.19/km²), by United States Secretary of State William H. Seward. The media call this Seward's Folly.
1870 – Texas is readmitted to the Union following Reconstruction.
1909 – The Queensboro Bridge opens, linking Manhattan and Queens.
1979 – First Gay Rights Parade held in Michigan.
1981 – President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by John Hinckley, Jr.

Births
1853 – Vincent van Gogh, Dutch painter (d. 1890)
1937 – Warren Beatty, American actor and director
1945 – Eric Clapton, British guitarist
1957 – Paul Reiser, American actor
1962 – MC Hammer, American rap musician
1964 – Tracy Chapman, American singer
1964 – Ian Ziering, American actor
1968 – Celine Dion, Canadian singer
1970 – Secretariat, American racehorse (d. 1989)
1979 – Norah Jones, American musician

Pretty good list of birthdays with several talented musicians and actors, a painter and a horse. But not just any horse. A horse that Tony Kornheiser once ranked higher than Scottie Pippen on a list of greatest athletes. I love that story. But the highlight birthday today (for lack of a better visual) is MC Hammer. Enjoy.