On this day in...

On this day in...
1492 – Queen Isabella of Castille issues the Alhambra decree, ordering her 150,000 Jewish subjects to convert to Christianity or face expulsion.
1774 – American Revolutionary War: The Kingdom of Great Britain orders the port of Boston, Massachusetts closed pursuant to the Boston Port Act.
1889 – The Eiffel Tower is inaugurated.
1909 – Construction begins on the RMS Titanic. It is completed on the same date in 1912.
1918 – Daylight saving time goes into effect in the United States for the first time.
1959 – The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, crosses the border into India and is granted political asylum.
1968 – President Lyndon B. Johnson announces he will not run for re-election.
1985 – The first WrestleMania, the biggest wrestling event from the WWE, takes place in Madison Square Garden in New York.
1995 – In Corpus Christi, Texas, Latin superstar Selena Quintanilla Perez is shot and killed by Yolanda Saldivar, the president of her own fan club.

Births
1596 – René Descartes, French mathematician (d. 1650)
1878 – Jack Johnson, American boxer (d. 1946)
1927 – César Chávez, American labor activist (d. 1993)
1928 – Lefty Frizzell, American singer and songwriter (d. 1975)
1928 – Gordie Howe, Canadian ice hockey player
1929 – Liz Claiborne, Belgian-born American fashion designer (d. 2007)
1940 – Barney Frank, U.S. Representative from Massachusetts
1943 – Christopher Walken, American actor
1945 – Gabe Kaplan, American actor and comedian
1948 – Al Gore, former Vice President of the United States
1948 – Rhea Perlman, American actress
1969 – Steve Smith, American basketball player
1971 – Pavel Bure, Russian ice hockey player
1971 – Ewan McGregor, Scottish actor
1976 – Josh Saviano, American actor

Big list of birthdays today with a math nerd, a boxer that broke the mold, some talented athletes, some political movers and shakers and some 80's TV actors. But today I'm highlighting the creepy funny man Christopher Walken. Here's his scene from 'Joe Dirt.'