"Wild Bill" Hickock

On Aug. 2, 1776, members of the Continental Congress began attaching their signatures to the Declaration of Independence.

In 1876, frontiersman "Wild Bill" Hickok was shot and killed while playing poker at a saloon in Deadwood, Dakota Territory.

In 1943, during World War II, Navy boat PT-109, commanded by Lt. John F. Kennedy, sank after being rammed by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri off the Solomon Islands.

In 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait, seizing control of the oil-rich emirate. (The Iraqis were later driven out in Operation Desert Storm.)

In 1997, "Naked Lunch" author William S. Burroughs, the godfather of the "Beat generation," died in Kansas City, Mo., at age 83.

BIRTHDAYS

Actor Peter O'Toole is 75.

Rock musician Garth Hudson (The Band) is 70.

Movie director Wes Craven is 68.

Actor Butch Patrick ("The Munsters") is 54.

Singer Mojo Nixon is 50.

Actress Mary-Louise Parker is 43.

Writer-actor-director Kevin Smith is 37.

Actress Hallie Eisenberg is 15.