Happy birthday to Martin Sheen (actor) – 1940 Martha Stewart (homemaking guru) – 1941 John C. McGinley (actor) – 1959 Tom Brady (football player) – 1977 Evangeline Lilly (actress) – 1979 On this day Christopher Columbus set sail from Spain with Niña, Pinta, and Santa Maria, in search of a western sea route to Asia – 1492 First intercollegiate boat race – 1852 American Canoe Association formed, Lake George, New York – 1880 Distinguished Flying Cross for William Bishop announced – 1918 At 2:47 A.M., Calvin Coolidge was sworn in as president by his father at Vermont homestead – 1923 The first okapi imported into U.S. went on display, Bronx Zoo, N.Y.C. – 1937 National Basketball Association formed from merger – 1949 Tom Yawkey inducted into National Baseball Hall of Fame – 1980 Lightning evidently triggered the fire alarm in an office building near Fort Collins, Colorado, which caused the inhabitants to evacuate - without their keys. While locked out, 16 were injured, most by the marble-size hail and wind gusts produced by the thunderstorm. – 1988