Inventions, firsts, and turning points tied to today’s date — each one sourced and dated.
A supertanker strayed from its lane and tore open on a reef, unleashing the worst oil spill in U.S. waters at the time.
At the height of his fame, the King of Rock and Roll swapped his blue suede shoes for Army boots as an ordinary private.
In 1882 a German physician unmasked the microbe killing one in seven, proving the era's deadliest disease was contagious.
The last Tudor monarch died childless in 1603, handing England's throne to her Scottish cousin James VI.