The Old Farmer's Almanac daily calendar gives you quick reference for the significant events on any day throughout the year.

1740s

• Born 1740: James Boswell (biographer)

1810s

• Born 1815: Daniel Decatur Emmett (songwriter, musician)

1880s

• Born 1884: Fred Lazarus, Jr. (merchandiser)

1890s

• Born 1891: Fanny Brice (singer & comedienne)

1910s

• Died 1911: Joseph Pulitzer (journalist)

1920s

• 1929: Black Tuesday at the NY Stock Exchange--Great Depression began

1940s

• 1940: The first peacetime draft in U.S. history went into effect

• Born 1945: Melba Moore (singer)

• 1945: The first ballpoint pens went on sale at Gimbel's Department store in N.Y.C. at $12.50 a piece

• Born 1947: Richard Dreyfuss (actor)

• Born 1948: Kate Jackson (actress)

1950s

• 1958: Boris Pasternak refused the Nobel Prize for literature under pressure from Soviet authorities

• Born 1959: Mike Gartner (hockey player)

1960s

• 1964: A spectacular gem robbery took place in New York's American Museum of Natural History. The greatest loss was the Star of India, the largest sapphire in the world

• Born 1967: Joely Fisher (actress)

1970s

• Born 1971: Winona Ryder (actress)

• Born 1973: Gabrielle Union (actress)

1980s

• Born 1980: Ben Foster (actor)

• Born 1981: Amanda Beard (Olympic swimmer)

1990s

• 1998: John Glenn returned to space at age 77

2000s

• Died 2002: Chang Lin-Tien (first Asian American to head a major U.S. university when he was named chancellor at the University of Berkeley)

• 2008: A 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck southwestern Pakistan

• 2008: The Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series