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•  In 1942, Walt Disney's animated feature "Bambi" had its U.S. premiere at Radio City Music Hall in New York, five days after its world premiere in London.
•  In 1960, the first two-way telephone conversation by satellite took place with the help of Echo 1. The Central African Republic became totally independent of French rule.
•  In 1961, East Germany sealed off the border between Berlin's eastern and western sectors and began building a wall that would stand for the next 28 years.
•  In 1981, in a ceremony at his California ranch, President Ronald Reagan signed a historic package of tax and budget reductions.
•  In 1989, searchers in Ethiopia found the wreckage of a plane which had disappeared almost a week earlier while carrying Rep. Mickey Leland, D-Texas, and 14 other people - there were no survivors.
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•  Ten years ago: Iraq began pumping crude oil from its northern oil fields for the first time since the start of the war. Libya agreed to set up a $2.7 billion fund for families of the 270 people killed in the 1988 Pan Am bombing.
•  Five years ago: A man barged into the Arkansas Democratic headquarters in Little Rock and opened fire, killing state party chairman Bill Gwatney before speeding off in a pickup. (Police later shot and killed the gunman, Timothy Dale Johnson.) Michael Phelps swam into history as the winningest Olympic athlete ever with his 10th and 11th career gold medals. Phelps won the 200-meter butterfly, then swam the leadoff of a runaway victory by the U.S. 800 freestyle relay team. Sandy Allen, who was recognized as the world's tallest female at 7 feet, 7 inches tall, died in Shelbyville, Ind., at age 53.
•  One year ago: A routine serving of an eviction notice to a man living near the Texas A&M University campus turned deadly when the resident opened fire, leading to the death of a law enforcement officer and another man before the gunman was killed. The Mayo Clinic announced that U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., a Chicago Democrat who'd taken a hushed medical leave, was being treated for bipolar disorder. Helen Gurley Brown, 90, the longtime editor of Cosmopolitan magazine, died in New York. The Boston Red Sox's unofficial goodwill ambassador, Johnny Pesky, died at age 92.
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•  Today's Birthdays: Former Cuban President Fidel Castro is 87. Actor Pat Harrington is 84. Former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders is 80. Actor Kevin Tighe is 69. Actress Gretchen Corbett is 66. Opera singer Kathleen Battle is 65. High wire aerialist Philippe Petit is 64. Hockey Hall of Famer Bobby Clarke is 64.

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