Journalist-author Edwin Newman is 89. Actor Gregg Palmer is 81. The former president of Georgia, Eduard Shevardnadze, is 80. Actor Dean Jones is 77. Country singer Claude Gray is 76. The former president of the Philippines, Corazon Aquino, is 75. Blues singer Etta James is 70. Movie director Tobe Hooper is 65. Actress Jenifer Lewis is 51. Actress Dinah Manoff is 50. Country musician Mike Burch (River Road) is 42. Rhythm-and-blues singer Kina is 39. Actress China Kantner is 37. Actress Ana Ortiz is 37. Musician Matt Odmark (Jars of Clay) is 34. Actress Mia Kirshner is 33. Rhythm-and-blues singer Alicia Keys is 27.
Historical birthdays: Traitor Benedict Arnold in 1741. Writer Virginia Woolf in 1882. Runner Steve Prefontaine in 1951.
This day in history: Alexander Graham Bell inaugurated U.S. transcontinental telephone service in 1915. President John F. Kennedy held the first presidential news conference carried live on radio and television in 1961. The 52 Americans held hostage by Iran for 444 days arrived in the United States in 1981.