Today’s events demand R-E-S-P-E-C-T

1992 Jury acquits Los Angeles police officers for the beating of Rodney King; riots begin. Which is a real bummer. Boo racism.

1974 President Nixon says he will release edited tapes made in the White House. What is there to add, really?

1968 "Hair" opens at Biltmore Theater New York City for 1750 performances. Mmm, naked hippie thespians. I can’t think of any single more attractive population subset… oh wait.

1967 Sock it to me: Aretha Franklin releases "Respect"

1961 ABC's "Wide World of Sports” debuts.

1945 U.S. liberates 31,601 in Nazi concentration camp in Dachau, Germany.

1852 The first edition of Peter Roget's Thesaurus is published. Useful, practical, functional, helpful.

1813 Rubber is patented

1429 Joan of Arc leads Orleans, France, to victory over English. Heroism, then burning at the stake. A fickle bunch, those French.

Cake!

1970 tennis star Andre Agassi

1958 actor Daniel Day-Lewis

1958 actor Michelle Pfeiffer

1955 what’s the deal with birthdays? Comedian Jerry Seinfeld

1899 jazz great Duke Ellington