1990: A court in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, imposes the death sentence on The Observer journalist Farzad Bazoft.
1969: James Earl Ray is jailed for 99 years by a court in Memphis, Tennessee, after admitting the murder of the American civil rights leader.
1876: Alexander Graham Bell made the first telephone call -- calling his assistant in another room by saying, "Mr. Watson, come here; I want you."
1862: The first paper money was issued in the U.S.: $5, $10, and $20 bills.