1774: Tommy Thumb's Song Book, a collection of English nursery rhymes which included "Baa Baa Black Sheep," was published by Mrs. Mary Cooper.

1882: The U.S. Congress outlawed polygamy.

1894: The Montreal Amateur Athletic Association beat the Ottawa Capitals 3-1 to win the first Stanley Cup. The cup was named for Lord Stanley of Preston because he paid for it: all $44.67.

1956: Singer Carl Perkins was critically injured, his brother Jay killed, in a Wilmington, Delaware, car crash. They were driving to New York to perform Carl's hit, "Blue Suede Shoes," on TV's Perry Como Show.

1958: 8-year-old Hank Williams Jr. made his singing debut in Swainsboro, Georgia.

1972: The U.S. Congress sent a proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution to the states for ratification. Only 35 states ratified the it; three short of the number needed for approval.

1981: RCA introduced its Selectra Vision laser disc player. It never caught on.

1990: George Bush shocked the world when he announced, "I do not like broccoli and I haven't liked it since I was a kid and my mother made me eat it, and I'm the President of the United States and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli."

1991: Los Angeles Kings' owner Bruce McNall and superstar Wayne Gretzky set a world record by buying a baseball card. They paid $451,000 for one of six known Honus Wagner cards.

1997: A powerful new "bullet train" service was launched in Japan, achieving the world's fastest average speed on a commercial run  of 151.4 miles an hour.

1997: Tara Lipinski became the youngest women's world figure skating champion at age 14 years 10 months,.

1998: A New York motorist, angry at being cut off, used a phony police badge to stop the other car on the Long Island Expressway. The other driver was a real police officer.

1999: Britney Spears' album "Baby One More Time" was certified triple platinum.

2001: A 45-year-old man was in a Memphis, Tennessee, court facing charges of attempted burglary and drug possession when he was accused of trying to hide cocaine under a courtroom chair. Witnesses said he reached into his shirt pocket and tried to hide a small plastic bag of white powder under a chair leg. A deputy retrieved the packet, the substance tested positive for cocaine, and the defendant had another charge added to his file.

2005: A woman claimed to have found a fingertip while eating Wendy's chili at a restaurant in San Jose, California. The food chain lost millions before the woman admitted it was all a hoax.

Birthdays:

• actor William Shatner is 80;
• sportscaster Bob Costas 58;
• musician George Benson 68;
• actor Matthew Modine 52;
• actress Kellie Williams 35;
• actress Reese Witherspoon 35;
• singer Stephanie Mills 54;
• composer Andrew Lloyd Webber 63;
• musician John Otto (Limp Bizkit) 34;
• basketball's Shawn Bradley 39;
• journalist Wolf Blitzer 63;
• Rev. Pat Robertson 81.

     Q: Is actress Reese Witherspoon's real name: (a) Laura Jean; (b) Lacey Jane; or (c) Lisa Jo?
     A: Laura Jean Reese Witherspoon.

     Q: Which is more poisonous: (a) a wasp; (b) a bee; or (c) a fireant?
     A: A fireant. Frequently, reactions to the venom can be severe.

     Q: The water that drains off which mountain is so polluted with alkaline that photographic negatives can be developed in it: (a) Mt. Kodak; (b) Mt. Fuji; or (c) Mt. Polaroid?
     A: Japan's Mt. Fuji.

     Wisdom: The person who knows everything hasn't even started learning.