Today in History - History - August 7th

1934US Court of Appeals upheld lower court ruling striking down government's attempt to ban controversial James Joyce novel "Ulysses"

1802Napoleon orders re-instatement of slavery on St Domingue (Haiti)

1956Boston Red Sox fine Ted Williams $5,000 for spitting at Boston fans

1961Soviet premier Khrushchev predicts USSR economy will surpass US

2010Jerry Rice is inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame

1930Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King loses the election to Richard Bedford Bennett of the Conservative Party

1782George Washington first creates Purple Heart medal (original name Badge of Military Merit) as commander of the Continental Army

1620Johannes Kepler's mother arrested for witchcraft

1938Leo Durocher, hits 2,000th Dodger home run

2007Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants breaks baseball great Hank Aaron's record by hitting his 756th home run.

1904Ralph Bunche, Detroit Michigan, founder/diplomat (UN) (Nobel 1950), (d. 1971)

1975Charlize Theron, Transvaal, South Africa, actress (The Cider House Rules, Monster)

1560Elizabeth Báthory, Nyírbátor, Hungarian countess and serial killer

1876Mata Hari, [Margaretha G Zelle], dancer/courtesan/spy (WW I)

2008Singer Jewel Kilcher (34) weds rodeo cowboy Ty Murray (38) in the Bahamas

1966Latin music king Xavier Cugat (60) weds singer Charo (20) at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas

1954Musician Johnny Cash (22) marries 1st wife Vivian Liberto (20)

1936Animator William Hanna (26) weds Violet Blanch Wogatzke (23)

1995Rapper LL Cool J (27) weds Simone Johnson

1987"Magnum, P.I." actor Tom Selleck (42) weds actress and dancer Jillie Mack (29) in Incline Village, Nevada

2010British pop star Robbie Williams (36) weds actress Ayda Field (31) in an intimate ceremony at Beverly Hills mansion

1974Actress Faye Dunaway weds Peter Wolf of J Geils Band

1941Rabindranath Tagore, Indian philosopher/poet/writer, dies at 80

1106Henry IV, Roman German king/emperor (1056/84-1105), dies at 54