On this date in...

1952...Jackie Robinson becomes the first African-American to become an executive with a U.S. television network when NBC names him Director of Community Activities for Channel 4.

1968...Liz Taylor and Richard Burton hold court at The Plaza Hotel, discussing their on-again/off-again romance.

1999...West African immigrant Amadou Diallo is killed in a hail of police bullets in the vestibule of his Bronx apartment building. Four NYPD officers searching for a serial rapist mistakenly believe Diallo has a gun and fire 41 shots at the 23-year-old, hitting him 19 times. His death sparks a series of demonstrations against racial profiling by police. The four officers involved are eventually acquitted of criminal charges, and in January of 2004 the Diallo family reaches a $3 million settlement in a civil lawsuit against the city.