Inventions, firsts, and turning points tied to today’s date — each one sourced and dated.
Thrust SSC roared across a Nevada desert at Mach 1.02, becoming the first wheeled vehicle to outrun its own sonic boom.
After a ten-week voyage, the fallen emperor reached the loneliest rock in the Atlantic, the prison Britain chose to hold him forever.
Tethered by ropes above Paris, Pilatre de Rozier became the first person to leave the ground in a Montgolfier balloon.
To drag the calendar back into step with the seasons, the pope simply deleted ten days — and millions went to sleep in one date and woke in another.
