Today in History - History - August 5th

1864US Civil War Battle of Mobile Bay won by the Union led by Rear Admiral Farragut with the cry "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!"

1435Battle at Ponza: king Alfonso V of Aragon captured by Genuezen

1926Houdini stays in a coffin under water for 1½ hrs before escaping

1950Ezzard Charles KOs Freddie Beshore to retain HW boxing title

1974US President Richard Nixon admits he withheld information about Watergate break-in

1962Nelson Mandela arrested for incitement & illeagally leaving S Africa

19924 cops in Rodney King beating case indicted on civil rights charge

1979Phillies Pete Rose collects NL record 2,427th career single

1975Stevie Wonder signs $13M contract with Motown

1979Nancy Lopez wins LPGA Colgate European Golf Open

1956Maureen McCormick, Encino California, actress (Marcia-Brady Bunch)

1937Herb Brooks, Saint Paul Minnesota, American ice hockey coach (Olympic Gold Medal 1980)

1704William Allen, Philadelphia Pennsylvania, Mayor of Philadelphia

1964MCA [Adam Yauch], Brooklyn New York, rock vocalist (Beastie Boys-You Gotta Fight), (d. 2012)

1962Patrick Ewing, Kingston Jamaica, NBA center (NY Knicks/Olympic-gold-92)

1930Neil Armstrong, Wapakoneta Ohio, X-15 pilot, 1st Moonwalker (Gemini 8, Apollo 11), (d. 2012)

1964Film director Mel Brooks (38) weds actress Anne Bancroft (32) at the Manhattan Marriage Bureau

1885Author Arthur Conan Doyle (26) weds Louisa Hawkins

1764Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II (17) weds queen Maria Luisa of Spain (18) in Innsbruck, Austria

1971Five-time Grammy Award singer Donna Summer (22) weds actor Helmuth Sommer

2000Sir Alec Guinness, British actor (b. 1914)

1991Paul Brown, NFL founder (Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals), dies at 82

1960Arthur Meighen, 9th Prime Minister of Canada, dies at 86

1962Marilyn Monroe, found dead of apparent self-inflicted drug overdose at 36