In 1913, Olympic legend Jesse Owens was born in Oakville, Alabama.

In 1958, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Cooper v. Aaron, unanimously ruled that Arkansas officials who were resisting public school desegregation orders could not disregard the high court’s rulings.

In 1962, in a speech at Rice University in Houston, President John F. Kennedy reaffirmed his support for the manned space program, declaring: “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”

In 1977, South African Black student leader and anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko, 30, died while in police custody, triggering an international outcry.

In 1987, reports surfaced that Democratic presidential candidate Joseph Biden had borrowed, without attribution, passages of a speech by British Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock for one of his own campaign speeches. (The Kinnock report, along with other damaging revelations, prompted Biden to drop his White House bid.)

In 2001, stunned rescue workers continued to search for bodies in the World Trade Center’s smoking rubble a day after a terrorist attack that shut down the financial capital, badly damaged the Pentagon and left thousands dead.

Today’s birthdays: Actor Linda Gray is 83. Original MTV VJ Nina Blackwood is 71. Actor Rachel Ward is 66. Rock musician Larry LaLonde (Primus) is 55. Golfer Angel Cabrera is 54. Actor-singer Will Chase is 53. Actor Josh Hopkins is 53. Country singer Jennifer Nettles is 49. Actor Lauren Stamile is 47. Rapper 2 Chainz is 46. Actor Kelly Jenrette is 45. Actor Ben McKenzie is 45. Singer Ruben Studdard is 45. Basketball Hall of Famer Yao Ming is 43. Singer-actor Jennifer Hudson is 42. Actor Alfie Allen is 37. Actor Emmy Rossum is 37. Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman is 34. Country singer Kelsea Ballerini is 30. Actor Colin Ford is 27.