1854

The Republican Party of the United States was founded by opponents of slavery at a schoolhouse in Ripon, Wisconsin.

1976

Kidnapped newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst was convicted of armed robbery for her part in a San Francisco bank holdup carried out by the Symbionese Liberation Army. (Hearst was sentenced to seven years in prison; she was released after serving 22 months and was pardoned in 2001 by President Bill Clinton.)

1987

Azidothymidine became the first medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat HIV/AIDS.

1995

In Tokyo, packages containing the deadly chemical sarin were opened on five separate subway trains in a domestic terror attack by members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult, causing 14 deaths and injuring more than 1,000.

1996

A jury in Los Angeles convicted Erik and Lyle Menendez of first-degree murder in the shotgun slayings of their wealthy parents. (They were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.)

Birthdays

Actor Hal Linden is 94. Guitarist Jimmie Vaughan is 74. Film director Spike Lee is 68. Actor Holly Hunter is 67. Actor David Thewlis is 62. Actor Michael Rapaport is 55. Actor-singer Christy Carlson Romano is 41. Tennis player Sloane Stephens is 32.