Today
1955 ÷ Rosa Parks, a black seamstress, defied the law by refusing to give up her seat to a white man aboard a Montgomery, Ala., city bus. Mrs. Parks was arrested, sparking a year-long boycott of the buses by blacks.
1969 ÷ The U.S. government held its first draft lottery since World War II.
1999 ÷ An international team of scientists announced it had mapped virtually an entire human chromosome.

Tomorrow
1804 ÷ Napoleon became emperor of France.
1961 ÷ Cuban leader Fidel Castro declared himself a Marxist-Leninist who would lead Cuba to Communism.
2001 ÷ In one of the largest corporate bankruptcies in U.S. history, Enron filed for Chapter 11 protection.

Wednesday
1964 ÷ Police arrested some 800 students at the University of California at Berkeley, one day after the students stormed the administration building and staged a massive sit-in.
1967 ÷ Surgeons in Cape Town, South Africa, led by Dr. Christiaan Barnard, performed the first human heart transplant. Louis Washkansky lived for 18 days with the new heart.
1994 ÷ Elizabeth Glaser, who became an AIDS activist after she and her two children were infected with HIV via a blood transfusion, died in Santa Monica, Calif., at age 47.

Thursday
1892 ÷ Francisco Franco, the Spanish dictator who overthrew the democratic republic and headed an authoritarian regime in Spain for 36 years, was born.
1992 ÷ President George H.W. Bush ordered American troops to lead a mercy mission to Somalia, threatening military action against warlords and gangs who were blocking food for starving millions.
1997 ÷ The NBA suspended all-star Latrell Sprewell of the Golden State Warriors for one year for choking and threatening to kill his coach, P.J. Carlesimo.

Friday
1933 ÷ National Prohibition came to an end as Utah became the 36th state to ratify the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, repealing the 18th Amendment.
1901 ÷ Walt Disney, the pioneer of animated cartoon films and founder of the Disney theme parks, was born.
1848 ÷ President James K. Polk triggered the Gold Rush of 1849 by confirming that gold had been discovered in California.