Today in History 2001 - George Harrison of the Beatles dies. 2011 - Dr Conrad Murray sentenced in Michael Jackson death case. 1929 - Explorer Richard Byrd flies over the South Pole. 1967 - Robert McNamara resigns as Secretary of Defense during the Vietnam War. 1963 - One week after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, President Johnson appoints a special commission to investigate his death. 1981 - Actress Natalie Woods drowns.