Born on This Day

Walter Cronkite at News Desk

Walter Cronkite

1916 - 2009

Pioneering TV newsman dubbed "the most trusted man in America" for his coverage of the JFK assassination and the Vietnam War.

Robert Mapplethorpe

Robert Mapplethorpe

1946 - 1989

American photographer who sparked controversy for his technically precise but unapologetically homoerotic male nudes.

Portrait of Laura Bush

Laura Bush

1946 -

First lady and wife of 43rd U.S. president George W. Bush who advocated for literacy programs.

1879

NOV

4

James Ritty of Dayton, Ohio receives a patent for a mechanical cash register he calls an "incorruptible cashier." He and his engineer brother John invented it to keep bartenders at James' saloon from pilfering profits.

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