Inventions, firsts, and turning points tied to today’s date — each one sourced and dated.
Before any American rode a rocket, a 37-pound chimp named Ham proved a human could fly to space and come home alive.
America's answer to Sputnik did more than reach orbit; its lone instrument stumbled onto a hidden ring of radiation around Earth.
After a year of bruising defeat, the House finally cleared the amendment that would write abolition into the Constitution.
