Happy Birthday RIP George Campbell Scott(1927-1999) ;  Charles “Chuck” Berry-86 Dawn Wells-74 Pam Dawber-62 Martina Navratilova-56 Erin Moran-52 Jean-Claude Van Damme(Jean-Claude Van Varenberg)-52 Zachary Efron-25 ; 1867 – United States takes possession of Alaska after purchasing it from Russia for $7.2 million. Celebrated annually in the state as Alaska Day ; 1898 – United States takes possession of Puerto Rico.