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TNG version: 15.0.2
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 1909 - 1959 (49 years)
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Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1613 |
- 21 Feb 1613—15 Mar 1917: The Romanov Dynasty, the last imperial dynasty to rule Russia, begins when 16 year old Mikhail Romanov is elected as Czar.Russiapedia Hillwood
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| 2 | 1901 |
- 22 Jan 1901—6 May 1910: Edward VII. Ruler of England 1901-1910. House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha: Eldest son of Victoria, married Alexandra, Princess of Denmark.HistoricUK
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| 3 | 1909 |
- 16 Jan 1909: Ernest Shackleton's expedition finds the magnetic South Pole.W I R E D EarthSky
- 5 Feb 1909: The first synthetic plastic, Bakelite, is announced to the world by its inventor, Leo Baekeland, during a presentation to the American Chemical Society in New York City.PN NYTimes
- 12 Feb 1909: The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People,or NAACP, is founded.NAACP LoC
- 7 Apr 1909: Americans Robert Peary and Matthew Henson become the first non-native men to reach the North Pole.USNA Bowdoin
- 19 Aug 1909: The first automobile race is held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.IMS FSS
- 30 Aug 1909: Charles Walcott of the Smithsonian Institute discovers the Burgess Shales, one of the world's richest fossil troves.ESCONI tCE
- 3 Nov 1909: William Howard Taft is elected 27th president of the United States of America, 1909 - 1913.USEA
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| 4 | 1910 |
- 13 Jan 1910: The first public radio broadcast takes place with a live performance at New York's Metropolitan Opera House. SIMag WQXR
- 8 Feb 1910: The Boy Scouts of America is incorporated.LoC BSA
- 28 Mar 1910: Engineer Henri Fabre takes off in the Canard, the first airplane to lift off from water under its own power.SI W I R E D
- 6 May 1910—20 Jan 1936: George V. Ruler of England 1910-1936. House of Windsor (name adopted Jul 17, 1917): 2nd son of Edward VII, married Princess Mary of Teck. Accession, Jan 20, abdication, Dec 10.HistoricUK
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| 5 | 1911 |
- 17 Feb 1911: The first electric "self-starter" is installed in a Cadillac.Hemmings EC
- 23 May 1911: The New York Public Library opens.NYPL LoC
- 30 May 1911: The first Indianapolis 500 is run.AH IN
- 16 Jun 1911: The Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company, the precursor to IBM, is founded in New York.IBM CHM
- 4 Jul 1911: The highest temperature recorded in Vermont is 105°F at Vernon.NetState CW
- 4 Jul 1911: The highest temperature recorded in New Hampshire is 106°F at Nashua.NetState CW
- 10 Jul 1911: The highest temperature recorded in Maine is 105°F at North Bridgton.NetState RCS
- 24 Jul 1911: The ancient city of the Incas, Machu Picchu, is discovered by Hiram Bingham, a professor at Yale University.TiC Andina
- 25 Sep 1911: Ground is broken for Fenway Park in Boston.MLB
- 23 Oct 1911: An airplane is used for the first time in war.W I R E D A&SMag
- 14 Dec 1911: Raold Amundsen and four others are the first to reach the South Pole.SP SA
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| 6 | 1912 |
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| 7 | 1913 |
- 2 Feb 1913: Grand Central Terminal opens.GCT PBS
- 13 May 1913: Igor Sikorsky's Ilya Mourometz, the world's first 4-engine airplane, takes flight.AFMag SA
- 13 Aug 1913: The first stainless steel is produced.W I R E D QSeals
- 7 Oct 1913: Ford debuts the assembly line to speed up Model-T production.BI Hemmings
- 31 Oct 1913: The first transcontinental highway, the Lincoln Highway, is dedicated.DOT ILH
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| 8 | 1914 |
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| 9 | 1915 |
- 19 Jan 1915: The first air raid against civilian targets takes place when German Zeppelins attack Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn, England.1stWW WHO
- 27 Mar 1915: Mary Mallon - Typhoid Mary, the first healthy carrier of disease ever identified in the United States, is put in her final quarantine at Riverside Hospital on North Brother Island, where she would remain for the rest of her life.PBS AH
- 7 May 1915: The RMS Lusitania is sunk by a German U-boat.1stWW LoC
- 17 Aug 1915: Charles F. Kettering, co-founder of DELCO in Dayton, Ohio, is issued a patent for his "engine-starting device".OAC AN
- 6 Sep 1915: The first military tank rolls off the assembly line.ACA USArmy
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| 10 | 1916 |
- 11 Feb 1916: Emma Goldman, an American anarchist and feminist, advocate of free speech, the eight-hour work day and birth control, is arrested in New York City before giving a lecture on family planning.LoC PBS
- 15 Mar 1916: General John Pershing leads an invasion of Mexico in pursuit of Pancho Villa.1stWW USArmy
- 24 Apr 1916—29 Apr 1916: Easter Rising - Ireland rises up against British rule and proclaims its independence.B B C IC
- 6 Jul 1916: "Uncle Sam" is created by James Montgomery Flagg as the cover of Leslie's Weekly.TIME DoD
- 15 Sep 1916: Tanks are introduced into battle for the first time.SA MotAGI
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| 11 | 1917 |
- 24 Feb 1917: The Zimmermann Telegram, in which Germany offers United States western territory to Mexico if Mexico declares war on the U. S., is presented to Woodrow Wilson, effectively bringing America into the war.USNA OurDocs
- 18 May 1917: The U. S. passes the Selective Service Act.NAF USNA
- 15 Oct 1917: Mata Hari is executed for spying.
 PBS
- 6 Nov 1917: The Bolshevik Revolution begins (October 24th, old style calendar).IWM MSU
- 26 Nov 1917: The National Hockey League is founded.NHL
- 6 Dec 1917: The Mont-Blanc, a French munitions ship, explodes in Halifax, Nova Scotia harbor after a collision, killing over 1800, injuring 9000 and entirely obliterating parts of the city.SIMag CanGeo
- 12 Dec 1917: Father Flanagan founds Boys Town.BoysTown
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| 12 | 1918 |
- 6 Jan 1918: The Bolsheviks take control of the Russian government.UoS UCA
- 9 Jan 1918: The last battle of the American Indian Wars occurs at the Battle of Bear Valley.RCH BYU
- Feb 1918—Dec 1920: The Spanish Flu pandemic kills at least 3% of the World's population.VLib npr
- 21 Feb 1918: The last known Carolina Parakeet dies in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo.Audubon USC
- 11 Mar 1918: At Fort Riley in Kansas, one of the first cases of what will become known as the Spanish Flu is recorded.WHO ACEP
- 12 Mar 1918: Moscow becomes the capital of the Soviet state of Russia.BYPLib TASS
- 19 Mar 1918: Time Zones and Daylight Savings Time are established by the Standard Time Act.POLITICO USDoD
- 21 Apr 1918: Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron, is shot down and killed in the skies over the Somme River in France.PBS CoF
- 16 May 1918: The Sedition Act of 1918 is passed curtailing the free speech rights of U. S. citizens during time of war.ZEP MTSU
- 27 Aug 1918: U. S. Army forces trade shots with Mexican troops and their German advisors in the only battle of World War I fought on American soil.BYU Tucson
- 26 Sep 1918—1 Oct 1918: The Meuse-Argonne Offensive begins.1stWW USArmy
- 29 Sep 1918: Allied forces break through the Hindenburg Line.NCDCR AWM
- 8 Oct 1918: Acting Corporal Alvin C. York kills 28 Germans and takes 132 of them as prisoners in the Battle of the Argonne.GWPDA SgtYork
- 7 Nov 1918: Dr. Robert Hutchings Goddard demonstrates tube-launched solid-propellant rockets at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, the forerunners to the bazooka.ESA AFHF
- 11 Nov 1918: Germany signs the Armistice.GHDI LoC
- 27 Dec 1918: Greater Poland Uprising - Poles begin their push for independence from Prussian control in the city of Poznań, which quickly spreads.PolandIn PC
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| 13 | 1919 |
- 15 Jan 1919: A tank of molasses ruptures in Boston's North End killing 21 people - the Great Molasses Flood.MassMoments SIMag
- 16 Jan 1919: The eighteenth amendment is ratified, Prohibition in the United States begins.LoC NCC
- 5 Feb 1919: Hollywood stars Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin, along with director D. W. Griffith, get together to form United Artists.CSL WHP
- 8 May 1919—27 May 1919: The Navy's NC-4 flying boat makes the first successful transatlantic flight.SI A&SMag
- 4 Jun 1919: The 19th Amendment is passed by Congress giving women the right to vote.OurDocs ZEP
- 28 Jun 1919: World War I ends.WW1.net USNavy
- 16 Sep 1919: The American Legion is issued a federal charter by the U. S. Congress.AL ALP224
- 2 Oct 1919: U. S. President Woodrow Wilson suffers a stroke that will leave him incapacitated until the end of his presidency.PBS JNS
- 17 Oct 1919: Radio Corporation of America, better known as RCA, is incorporated.LoVA VTInc
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| 14 | 1920 |
- 24 Jul 1920: The Boston Post runs a story that exposes Charles Ponzi and his financial scheme.MassMoments SIMag
- 18 Aug 1920: With the passing of the nineteenth amendment, women win the right to vote.USCensus OurDocs
- 20 Aug 1920: Seven men, including legendary all-around athlete and football star Jim Thorpe, meet to organize a professional football league in Canton, Ohio.OHC DT
- 12 Oct 1920: Construction begins on the Holland Tunnel.HHM PA
- 2 Nov 1920: Warren Gamaliel Harding is elected the 29th president of the United States of America. He dies of a heart attack in San Francisco on 2 August 1923. USEA LoC
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| 15 | 1921 |
- 26 Apr 1921: The first U. S. weather report to be broadcast on the radio is made from station WEW in St. Louis, Missouri.Current MBA
- 31 May 1921—1 Jun 1921: A white mob attacks residents, homes and businesses in the predominantly black affluent Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa, Oklahoma. SIMag TH
- 21 Jul 1921: Brigadier General William "Billy" Mitchell demonstrates the ability of aircraft to sink enemy warships.CoF SI
- 25 Aug 1921—2 Sep 1921: The Battle of Blair Mountain, striking coal miners take on strike breakers and police.WVU CH
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| 16 | 1922 |
- 11 Jan 1922: Insulin is first used to successfully treat diabetes.MNT WHP
- 20 Mar 1922: The United States Navy's first aircraft carrier, USS Langley, is commissioned.USNA USDoD
- 5 Apr 1922: Firestone begins production of the first low-pressure balloon tires in Akron, Ohio.AF Bridgestone
- 14 Nov 1922: The BBC begins broadcasting from London.B B C
- 21 Nov 1922: Rebecca Latimer Felton of Georgia takes the oath of office becoming the first woman to serve in the U. S. Senate.USSenate
- 26 Nov 1922: Howard Carter and Lord Carnavon enter King Tut's tomb.History.com
- 30 Dec 1922: The Soviet Union is established.LoC MSU
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| 17 | 1923 |
- 16 Feb 1923: King Tut's tomb is unsealed.NYTimes
- 12 Mar 1923: The Phonofilm movie process, a sound track added to the movie film, is demonstrated to the press.W I R E D WZ
- 18 Jun 1923: The first Checker Cab rolls off the assembly line in Kalamazoo, Michigan.AH Hagerty
- 13 Jul 1923: The Hollywoodland (now just Hollywood) sign is officially dedicated.CAW&P SD
- 3 Aug 1923: John Calvin Coolidge Jr. becomes the 30th president of the United States of America the day after President Warren G. Harding dies - from 1923 - 1929.Whitehouse LoC
- 16 Oct 1923: Walt and Roy Disney found the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio in Hollywood, California.D23 Disney
- 24 Dec 1923: A U. S. national Christmas tree is lit for the first time.NPS WHHA
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| 18 | 1925 |
- 19 Jan 1925: The lowest temperature recorded in Maine is -48°F at Van Buren - which has since been broken with a -50°F at Black Bear River on 16 Jan 2009.NetState CC
- 28 Feb 1925: An earthquake measuring approximately 7 on the Richter scale strikes the Charlevoix-Kamouraska area of eastern Canada.NRCan MM
- 13 Mar 1925: Tennessee bans the teaching of evolution in all public schools.NIH CERC
- 25 May 1925: John T. Scopes is indicted for teaching Darwinian evolution theory.LHL ABAJ
- 10 Jul 1925: Jury selection begins for the Scopes Monkey Trial.npr MTSU
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| 19 | 1926 |
- 26 Jan 1926: Television is demonstrated to the public for the first time.HoI TIME
- 16 Mar 1926: Robert H. Goddard, a physics professor at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, launches the world's first liquid fueled rocket from a field in Auburn, Massachusetts.MassMoments NASA
- 9 May 1926: Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett, in a Fokker Trimotor, fly over the North Pole.PBS AFMag
- 12 May 1926: The Norge, a semi-rigid Italian-built airship, just misses being the first aircraft to fly over the North Pole.NYCGP TH
- 23 Jun 1926: The first Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) is administered.PBS SIMag
- 31 Oct 1926: Escape artist Harry Houdini dies.tGHH SIMag
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| 20 | 1927 |
- 7 Jan 1927: The first commercial transoceanic telephone service begins, using radio, between New York and London.EDN USNA
- 20 May 1927—21 May 1927: Charles Lindbergh makes the first solo transatlantic flight from New York to Paris.MNHS PBS
- 26 May 1927: After 19 years, production of the Ford Model T ceases.AH HFM
- 23 Aug 1927: Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti die in the electric chair.ZEP MA
- 7 Sep 1927: Philo Taylor Farnsworth transmits the first electronic image - television.ThePilot tHoTV
- 4 Oct 1927: Work begins on Mount Rushmore.History.com
- 6 Oct 1927: "The Jazz Singer", the first talking movie, premieres.AISH MTV
- 13 Nov 1927: At midnight, the Holland Tunnel opens to automobile traffic.NYCRoads PANYNJ
- 21 Nov 1927: Striking coal miners are gunned down by state police in Serene, Colorado, killing six and wounding twenty others.WU CU
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| 21 | 1928 |
- 13 Jan 1928: The first television sets are installed in Schenectady, New York.MIT RM
- 18 Sep 1928: The Graf Zeppelin takes off on its maiden flight.Airships WingNet
- 28 Sep 1928: Scottish biologist Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin.NIH PBS
- 12 Oct 1928: A young polio sufferer at Children's Hospital in Boston becomes the first person to use the iron lung artificial respirator.W I R E D BMag
- 6 Nov 1928: Herbert Clark Hoover is elected 31st president of the United States of America, 1929 - 1933.USEA
- 18 Nov 1928: Mickey Mouse makes his silver screen premier in Steamboat Willie.MoMA TIME
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| 22 | 1929 |
- 8 Aug 1929: The Graf Zeppelin begins its round-the-world flight.WingNet TDiA
- 29 Oct 1929: The Great Depression in the United States begins with the crash of the stock market, Black Tuesday.TIME BT
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| 23 | 1930 |
- 18 Feb 1930: Pluto is discovered.Lowell EarthSky
- 13 Mar 1930: The discovery of the planet Pluto is announced by its discover Clyde Tombaugh at the Lowell Observatory.APS Lowell
- 6 Apr 1930: The Twinkie is invented.NPR Trib
- 21 Apr 1930: 320 inmates die in a fire at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Columbus, many burning to death when their cell doors are not unlocked.OHC QRFS
- 12 May 1930: The first planetarium in the U. S., the Adler Planetarium, opens to the public.Adler CCT
- 15 May 1930: The first female flight attendant takes off.AJC UAHF
- 24 Jun 1930: Preliminary testing of what will later become Radar begins.I&T GoogleBooks
- 7 Jul 1930: Construction of the Hoover Dam begins.Tucson CC
- 9 Aug 1930: Betty Boop makes her first appearance.VN KF
- 12 Aug 1930: Clarence Birdseye receives a patent for the production of quick-frozen fish.MassMoments npr
- 20 Aug 1930: W2XCR begins broadcasting from Jersey City, New Jersey, with first demonstration of home reception of television.ET GoogleBooks
- 8 Sep 1930: 3M rolls out Scotch© Brand Cellulose Tape, later renamed Scotch Transparent Tape.ACS FV
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| 24 | 1931 |
- 19 Mar 1931: Gambling becomes legal in Nevada.NRA LoA
- 1 May 1931: The Empire State Building opens.LoC HDC
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| 25 | 1932 |
- 12 Jan 1932: Hattie Caraway becomes the first women elected to the U. S. Senate.USCongress SIMag
- 1 Mar 1932: Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr., the 20-month-old son of the famous aviator and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, is kidnapped during the night.FBI CM
- 31 Mar 1932: Ford unveils its new flathead V8 engine.AH JJ
- 28 Apr 1932: A vaccine for yellow fever is introduced.NIH
- 8 Nov 1932: Franklin Delano Roosevelt is elected the 32nd president of the United States of America, 1933 - 1945. He died in office on 12 April 1945.USEA
- 27 Dec 1932: Radio City Music Hall opens in New York City.LoC NYPAP
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| 26 | 1933 |
- 5 Jan 1933: Construction begins on the Golden Gate Bridge.SIMag GGB
- 25 Feb 1933: The USS Ranger, the first purpose-built aircraft carrier, is launched at Newport News, Virginia.NI&SHM USNavy
- 12 Mar 1933: Franklin Delano Roosevelt's first "fireside chat" is broadcast.npr MC-UVA
- 6 Jun 1933: The first drive-in movie theater opens in Camden, New Jersey.History.com DIT
- 10 Jun 1933: The Immigration and Naturalization Service is established.USCitizenship USNA
- 12 Jul 1933: The first Dymaxion is produced.AH tVN
- 22 Jul 1933: American aviator Wiley Post lands at Floyd Bennett Field in New York, completing the first solo flight around the world in 7 days, 18 hours, and 49 minutes.A&SMag PopMech
- 17 Oct 1933: Albert Einstein, his wife, his assistant and his collaberator/assistant arrive in New York harbor aboard the Westernland on his way to Princeton.IRC EDN
- 24 Oct 1933: Charles Brace Darrow copyrights his Monopoly game.LLG PI
- 12 Nov 1933: Hugh Gray takes the first photograph of the Loch Ness Monster.Nessie Hoaxes
- 5 Dec 1933: Prohibition ends.History.com TIME
- 30 Dec 1933: The lowest temperature in Vermont, -50°F, is recorded at Bloomfield.NetState UVM
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| 27 | 1934 |
- 29 Jan 1934: The lowest temperature in New Hampshire is -47°F recorded on Mount Washington.NetState WA
- 12 Apr 1934: The highest surface wind measured anywhere on earth was clocked by the staff of the Mount Washington Observatory at 231 mph.MWOBS WU
- 23 May 1934: Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow are ambushed and killed by police officers in Louisiana ending their crime spree.FBI TXArchive
- 2 Aug 1934: Adolf Hitler becomes Führer.USHMM JVL
- 15 Aug 1934: Otis Barton and William Beebe make the first deep sea dive in their Bathysphere.NOAA APS
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| 28 | 1935 |
- 11 Jan 1935—12 Jan 1935: Amelia Earhart takes off on the first solo flight from Hawaii to California. PBS
- 24 May 1935: Major League Baseball plays its first night game.SABR NBHoF
- 2 Jun 1935: Babe Ruth retires.TIME ESPN
- 16 Jul 1935: The world's first parking meter is installed in Oklahoma City.GIZMODO ExpiredMeter
- 14 Aug 1935: The Social Security Act is passed establishing a system of old-age benefits.SSA OurDocs
- 15 Aug 1935: The Social Security Act becomes law.OurDocs USNA
- 17 Dec 1935: The Douglas DC-3, the most successful passenger airliner ever, takes its first flight.A&S AFMag
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| 29 | 1936 |
- 20 Jan 1936—11 Dec 1936: Edward VIII. Ruler of England 1936. House of Windsor (name adopted Jul 17, 1917): Eldest son of George V.HistoricUK
- 5 Mar 1936: The prototype of the British Supermarine Spitfire flies for the first time.SI Bonhams
- 21 Mar 1936: Snow melt and ice blocks causes flooding along the Connecticut River Valley saving the worst for Springfield, Massachusetts.MassMoments USNI
- 7 Jul 1936: Henry F. Phillips receives patents for a new kind of screw and the new screwdriver needed to make it work.W I R E D F-a-P
- 7 Sep 1936: The last known Tasmanian Tiger dies in captivity.NMA AusGeo
- 9 Oct 1936: The Hoover Dam begins sending electricity to Los Angeles.LoC W&PA
- 23 Nov 1936: The first issue of Life Magazine is published.LIFE WHP
- 11 Dec 1936—6 Feb 1952: George VI. Ruler of England 1936-1952. House of Windsor (name adopted Jul 17, 1917): 2nd son of George V, Duke of York; married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon.HistoricUK
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| 30 | 1937 |
- 16 Feb 1937: Linear Condensation Polymer, better known as Nylon, is patented by Wallace Carothers of DuPont.SN AH
- 26 Apr 1937: Nazis test their new air force, destroying the Basque town of Guernica in northern Spain, inspiring the Picasso anti-war painting.Zinn PBS
- 6 May 1937: The Hindenburg, a rigid airship, explodes while attempting to land at Lakehurst, New Jersey.Airships SIMag
- 28 May 1937: The Golden Gate Bridge opens to vehicular traffic.GGB PBS
- 4 Jun 1937: The first shopping cart rolls out at the Humpty Dumpty supermarket in Oklahoma City.W I R E D SI
- 2 Jul 1937: Amelia Earhart disappears on her quest to be the first person to fly around the world.TIME USNA
- 21 Dec 1937: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first animated full-length movie, premieres.History.com Disney
- 22 Dec 1937: The center tube of the Lincoln Tunnel opens to automobile traffic.PANYNJ AH
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| 31 | 1938 |
- 24 Feb 1938: The first nylon-bristled toothbrushes, the first modern toothbrushes, go on sale.W I R E D SM.UK
- 6 Apr 1938: DuPont chemist Roy Plunkett accidentally invents Teflon.W I R E D Teflon
- 21 Sep 1938: The Great New England Hurricane of 1938 slams into Long Island and southern New England.NOAA NEHS
- 22 Oct 1938: The first xerographic copy is made in a laboratory in Astoria, Queens, New York, the birth of Xerox. SIMag APS
- 30 Oct 1938: Orson Welles broadcasts "The War of the Worlds," from a New York City studio causing a panic.SIMag WotW.org
- 16 Nov 1938: Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is first synthesized by Dr. Albert Hofmann.CV PSR
- 23 Dec 1938: A coelacanth, previously known only from fossil evidence, is caught in the Chalumna River, near East London, South Africa. Nature SD
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| 32 | 1939 |
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| 33 | 1940 |
- 27 Feb 1940: Carbon-14 is discovered by scientists Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben working at the University of California at Berkeley making it now possible to date once living material.W I R E D BerkLab
- 15 May 1940: The first McDonald's restaurant opens in San Bernardino, California.RestMag LoC
- 26 May 1940—4 Jun 1940: British forces begin evacuation of France through Dunkirk.EB TheTelegraph
- 10 Jul 1940: The Battle of Britain begins.FWR
- 12 Sep 1940: The Lascaux Cave paintings are discovered.VVD YouTube
- 27 Sep 1940: Germany, Italy and Japan sign a treaty of mutual assistance - the Tripartite Pact.Avalon WHP
- 26 Oct 1940: The P-51 Mustang takes its maiden flight with test pilot Vance Breese.MM DW
- 7 Nov 1940: "Galloping Gertie", the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, collapses due to high winds.WSDOT KIRO7
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| 34 | 1941 |
- 12 Feb 1941: The first human trials of penicillin begin.Forbes NIH
- 12 May 1941: The first fully functional, programmable computer is unveiled.W I R E D CHM
- 9 Jul 1941: The Enigma key is broken.MSN History.com
- 30 Oct 1941: FDR approves $1 billion in Lend-Lease aid for the USSR.USState JVL
- 31 Oct 1941: Mt. Rushmore is completed.NPS
- 1 Dec 1941: The Civil Air Patrol is established.GovInfo CAP
- 7 Dec 1941: The forces of the Japanese Empire attack the U. S. Fleet while it lies at anchor at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.USNavy NPS
- 8 Dec 1941: The U. S. declares war on Japan.Avalon USNA
- 12 Dec 1941: Adolf Hitler personally orders the mass extermination of European Jews during a meeting of Nazi German regional governors in the chancellery.AH.dk SIMag
- 26 Dec 1941: Thanksgiving is established as the 4th Thursday in November.USNA LoC
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| 35 | 1942 |
- 14 Jan 1942: FDR orders that "enemy aliens" must register with the government.History.com UCSB
- 19 Feb 1942: President Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066 resulting in the forcible internment of people of Japanese ancestry. USNA OurDocs
- 18 Apr 1942: Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle leads an air raid against Tokyo and other Japanese cities in retaliation for the attack on Pearl Harbor.USNavy SIMag
- 13 Aug 1942: The Manhattan Project begins.AHF NWWIIM
- 9 Sep 1942: A submarine-based Japanese seaplane fire bombs the Oregon forest.SitOS USDA
- 21 Sep 1942: The B-29 Superfortress takes its maiden flight.AFHF MoF
- 28 Nov 1942: A fire at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston, Massachusetts kills 492 people.CB BFHS
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| 36 | 1943 |
- 20 Feb 1943—1952: The Parícutin volcano begins to erupt in Parícutin, Mexico, marking the first time scientists are able to observe the complete life cycle of a volcano. SDSU SIArchives
- 16 Apr 1943: Swiss chemist Dr. Albert Hofmann accidentally discovers the psychedelic properties of LSD.W I R E D DW
- 19 Apr 1943—16 May 1943: Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto begin uprising against the Nazis.USHMM JVL
- 10 Jun 1943: Brothers László and Georg Bíró, Hungarian refugees living in Argentina, patent the ballpoint pen.W I R E D FPN
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| 37 | 1944 |
- 23 Apr 1944—4 May 1944: Sikorsky's R4 helicopter becomes the first used in a combat role.A&SMag VTOL
- 6 Jun 1944—7 Jun 1944: D-Day - allied forces begin the invasion of continental Europe.USArmy IWM
- 6 Jul 1944: A fire in the Ringling Brothers/Barnum and Bailey Circus tent takes 168 lives in Hartford, Connecticut.HCF CTHist
- 20 Jul 1944: Hitler survives an assassination attempt.UoC JVL
- 9 Aug 1944: The first poster of Smokey the Bear is created.StB TIME
- 21 Oct 1944: The first individual kamikaze attack occurs when a Japanese plane attacks HMAS Australia off Leyte Island.RDunn NHSA
- 25 Oct 1944: Kamikaze are used en masse for the first time against Allied forces in the Battle of Leyte Gulf.NNAM AFMag
- 12 Nov 1944: Avro Lancasters of the British Royal Air Force sink the German battleship Tirpitz off Håkøya Island near Tromsø, Norway.KBismarck BCM
- 16 Dec 1944—31 Jan 1945: The Battle of the Bulge, a surprise offensive by the German Army pushes Allied forces back through Belgium and Luxembourg.USArmy PBS
- 27 Dec 1944: The federal government takes control of Montgomery Ward.UCSB AHC
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| 38 | 1945 |
- 25 Jan 1945: Fluoridation is introduced to drinking water.W I R E D ADA
- 12 Apr 1945: Harry S. Truman becomes the 33rd president of the United States of America upon the death of FDR, 1945 - 1953.Whitehouse LoC
- 1 May 1945: Adolf Hitler commits suicide.JVL tPCfM
- 5 May 1945: A Japanese balloon bomb kills 6.W I R E D OE
- 7 May 1945: Germany unconditionally surrenders, effectively ending World War II in Western Europe. Soviet surrender terms were signed the next day.DoD USHMM
- 8 May 1945: V-E Day is celebrated, Germany is defeated.DoD NWWIIM
- 16 Jul 1945: "Trinity", the first atomic bomb, explodes in the early morning hours near Alamogordo.B B C DoE
- 28 Jul 1945: A B-25 Mitchell bomber, flying from New Bedford, Massachusetts, to LaGuardia Airport in New York City, crashes into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building killing 14 people. NYCR&I npr
- 30 Jul 1945: The USS Indianapolis is sunk by a Japanese submarine, killing 883 sailors.USSIndianapolis USNavy
- 6 Aug 1945: The first atomic bomb is dropped on Hiroshima, Japan.B B C CTBTO
- 9 Aug 1945: The atomic bomb is dropped on Nagasaki, Japan.OSTI USNA
- 2 Sep 1945: World War II ends, Japan surrenders to the United States aboard the USS Missouri.CNN WAPO
- 26 Sep 1945: The first American soldier is killed in Vietnam.History.com ANC
- 24 Oct 1945: The United Nations is established.UN USState
- 20 Nov 1945—1 Oct 1946: Nazi officials are put on trial in Nuremburg, Germany.USHMM LoC
- 5 Dec 1945: U. S. Navy Flight 19, consisting of 5 Grumman TBM Avenger torpedo bombers, disappears in the Bermuda Triangle off the coast of Florida, never to be seen again.Navy NASFM
- 6 Dec 1945: The microwave oven is invented by Percy Spencer of the Raytheon Corporation.NASA Web+
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| 39 | 1946 |
- 13 Feb 1946: ENIAC, the first Electrical Numerical Integrator And Calculator, is unveiled at the University of Pennsylvania’s Moore School of Electronics.KurzweilAI AA
- 14 Feb 1946: ENIAC, the first large scale, general purpose, digital computer is announced to the public.UPenn CH
- 22 Feb 1946: Rutgers University Professor Selman A. Waksman announces a second (after penicillin) clinical application of antibiotics - streptomycin against tuberculosis.JC BALLYA
- 8 Mar 1946: The Bell Model 47 becomes the first helicopter to be certified for civilian use.GoogleBooks TW
- 16 May 1946: Jack Mullin gives the first public demonstration of a professional quality tape recorder in the U. S..MoB LATimes
- 6 Jun 1946: The National Basketball Association is founded in New York.NBA NBAHO
- 5 Jul 1946: The world is introduced to the bikini swimsuit.WAPO CR
- 8 Aug 1946: The first true intercontinental bomber, the B-36, makes its first flight.SACM FAS
- 13 Nov 1946: The first man-made snowfall is produced over Mt. Greylock in western Massachusetts.MassMoments NWS
- 11 Dec 1946: UNICEF is founded.UNICEF History.com
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| 40 | 1947 |
- 21 Feb 1947: Edwin Land demonstrates his instant camera and film - the Polaroid.SI ACS
- 16 Apr 1947: The first television zoom lens, the Zoomar lens, is demonstrated by NBC-TV in New York City, allowing close-up and distant camera shots from the same stationary camera, rather than moving the entire camera as had been done previously.TiS BH
- 16 Apr 1947: A French ship loaded with fertilizer explodes, killing almost 600 people in Texas City, Texas.Chron TSHA
- 28 Apr 1947: Thor Heyerdahl and Kon-Tiki set sail from Peru on a course for French Polynesia.SIMag K-TBC
- 11 May 1947: The B.F. Goodrich Co. announces the development of the tubeless tire.History.com DA
- 6 Jul 1947: The world's most popular assault rifle, the AK-47, begins production.SN W I R E D
- 7 Jul 1947: The Roswell Incident occurs.Space RAM
- 8 Jul 1947: The U. S. Army Air Force announces that it had captured a flying saucer.AJ W I R E D
- 7 Aug 1947: After 101 days, Thor Heyerdahl completes his voyage with Kon-Tiki.MLP AO
- 18 Sep 1947: The CIA is established through the National Security Act of 1947.HSDL USNA
- 18 Sep 1947: The United States Air Force is established as the Department of the Air Force, a new agency within the Department of Defense.USAF AFHF
- 26 Sep 1947: Personnel from the Army Air Forces are transferred from the Department of the Army to the Department of the Air Force.USAF
- 5 Oct 1947: President Harry Truman makes the first-ever televised presidential address from the White House.History.com
- 14 Oct 1947: U. S. Air Force Captain Chuck Yeager becomes the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound.USNA Space
- 20 Oct 1947: The House Un-American Activities Committee opens an investigation of communism in Hollywood.N TIME
- 24 Nov 1947: The "Hollywood 10" are charged with contempt by the U. S. Congress.ABAJ CUNY
- 29 Nov 1947: The United Nations votes to partition Palestine.Knesset JCPA
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| 41 | 1948 |
- 21 Jan 1948: The fleur-de-lis flag becomes the official flag of Québec.CBC QC
- 30 Jan 1948: Gandhi is assassinated.History.com BP
- 21 Feb 1948: The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, NASCAR, is incorporated.Hemmings HR
- 7 Apr 1948: The World Health Organization is established by the United Nations.WHO AJC
- 14 May 1948: The State of Israel is established.Israel USState
- 3 Jun 1948: The 200 inch Hale Telescope goes into operation at the Palomar Observatory.NPS UC
- 21 Jun 1948: Columbia Records introduces the 12" LP (long playing) record.W I R E D 33Audio
- 30 Jun 1948: Bell Labs holds a press conference to announce their latest invention, the transistor.PBS CHM
- 28 Nov 1948: The first commercial instant camera, Polaroid Land camera Model 95, goes on sale at the Jordan Marsh department store in Boston.Haaretz TDiTH
- 24 Dec 1948: The first completely solar heated house, the Peabody house in Dover, Massachusetts, is ready for occupancy.TiS OTD
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| 42 | 1949 |
- 6 Jan 1949: The first photograph of genes was taken at the University of Southern California by Dr. Daniel Chapin Pease and Dr. Richard Freligh Baker. TiS DE
- 10 Jan 1949: The 45-rpm record, cheaper and more portable than other record formats, is introduced by RCA.W I R E D CNYNews
- 26 Feb 1949—2 Mar 1949: The first non-stop round-the-world flight takes place in a Boeing B-50A, the Lucky Lady II, lasting 94 hours and 1 minute.AFMag PBS
- 4 Apr 1949: NATO, or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is founded.USNA Avalon
- 27 Jul 1949: The world's first jet-propelled airliner, the British De Havilland Comet, makes its maiden test-flight in England.AFMag CoF
- 3 Aug 1949: The NBA is born.NBA tPG
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| 43 | 1950 |
- 17 Jan 1950: A group of armed, masked men rob the Brink's depot in Boston, getting away with $2.7 million.FBI NEHS
- 31 Jan 1950: President Truman announces plans for the U. S. to develop the hydrogen bomb.PBS AHF
- 14 Mar 1950: The FBI Ten Most Wanted list makes its debut.FBI CMag
- 19 May 1950: As a munitions barge is being loaded in South Amboy, New Jersey, it explodes, destroying the waterfront and much of the town.Hagley HMdb
- 25 Jun 1950: Korean War: The United States (as part of the United Nations) and South Korea vs. North Korea and Communist China 1950-1953.PBS USNA
- 24 Jul 1950: Cape Canaveral launches its first rocket.W I R E D CoF
- 24 Sep 1950: Black Sunday occurs when smoke from forest fires in western Canada makes its way east, darkening the skies in the eastern United States and Canada and as far away as western Europe.BLM WR
- 2 Oct 1950: The comic strip Peanuts is first published.TIME GoComics
- 25 Nov 1950—29 Nov 1950: The "Storm of the Century" strikes the eastern U. S..History.com NOAA
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| 44 | 1951 |
- 31 Mar 1951: UNIVAC I, the first commercially produced computer, is delivered to the United States Census Bureau.Census ETHW
- 10 Nov 1951: Mayor M. Leslie Downing of Englewood, New Jersey and Mayor Frank Osborne of Alameda, California make the first direct-dialed, transcontinental telephone call.CSL BH
- 20 Dec 1951: A nuclear reactor produces useful electricity for the first time. DoE APS
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| 45 | 1952 |
- 6 Feb 1952: Elizabeth II. Ruler of England 1952-present.House of Windsor (name adopted Jul 17, 1917): Elder daughter of George VI, acceded Feb 6, 1956.HistoricUK
- 15 Apr 1952: The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress makes its first flight and is still in service today.KAFB Boeing
- 3 May 1952: The first airplane lands at the North Pole.HC ASN
- 15 Jul 1952—31 Jul 1952: The first transatlantic helicopter flight begins.RH PP
- 25 Jul 1952: Puerto Rico becomes a Commonwealth of the United States.tPR USState
- 20 Sep 1952: Geneticists Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase publish their conclusion that DNA is where life's hereditary data is found.OSU RUP
- 4 Nov 1952: Dwight David Eisenhower is elected the 34th president of , 1953 - 1961.USEA
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| 46 | 1953 |
- 28 Feb 1953: At Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University, scientists James D. Watson and Frances H.C. Crick announce that they have determined the chemical structure of DNA.NIH GO
- 26 Mar 1953: The success of the polio vaccine is announced on the radio.NIH WAPO
- 29 Apr 1953: The ABC affiliate KECA-TV broadcasts the show Space Patrol in 3-D but it can only be viewed using special polarized lenses.EDN Signals
- 29 May 1953: Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay become the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest. PBS
- 9 Jun 1953: The Worcester tornado takes 94 lives.NEHS TT
- 19 Jun 1953: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are executed after being convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage.SI JWA
- 26 Jul 1953—1 Jan 1959: Fidel Castro leads a revolt against the United States backed Batista regime.npr LaHabana
- 27 Jul 1953: The Korean War ends.OurDocs USNA
- 20 Nov 1953: Piltdown Man is reported to be a hoax in the bulletin of the British Natural History Museum.PBS
- 30 Dec 1953: The first color televisions go on sale in the U. S..S&V EoaG
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| 47 | 1954 |
- 21 Jan 1954: The USS Nautilus, the first operational nuclear powered submarine, is launched at Groton, Connecticut.Nautilus USNA
- 27 Jan 1954: The atomic battery is unveiled.RCA NYTimes
- 15 Feb 1954: The governments of Canada and the U. S. agree to jointly build a line of radar stations in defense against a possible air Soviet attack, the DEW (Distant Early Warning) line.1370th T&G
- 18 Feb 1954: The first Church of Scientology is established in Los Angeles based upon the religious philosophy of writer L. Ron Hubbard.EAEC CoS
- 23 Feb 1954: A group of Pennsylvania school children receive the first injections of the new Salk polio vaccine.History.com TIME
- 25 Mar 1954: Production of RCA's first commercial color television set begins.W I R E D TVTech
- 6 Apr 1954: Swanson introduces us to the TV Dinner.GoogleNews TMC
- 17 May 1954: The United States Supreme Court unanimously rules for school integration in the landmark initiative, Brown v. Board of Education.OurDocs SI
- 14 Jun 1954: President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a bill inserting the words "under God" into the Pledge of Allegiance.tGLIoAH CNY
- 27 Jun 1954: The world's first nuclear power plant goes online.W I R E D PT
- 16 Aug 1954: Sports Illustrated makes its debut.SI SHT
- 24 Aug 1954: U. S. President Eisenhower signs the Communist Control Act into law, making the Communist Party illegal.UCSB IA
- 11 Sep 1954: The first broadcast of the Miss America pageant occurs.IMDb Tango
- 29 Sep 1954: The CERN Convention is entered into force.CERN SA
- 18 Oct 1954: The first transistor radio, the Regency TR1, is introduced to the world.PBS EDN
- 30 Nov 1954: A meteorite crashes through the roof and strikes a napping Ann Hodges in Sylacauga, Alabama, the only documented injury from an extra-terrestrial object.Space SIMag
- 23 Dec 1954: The first successful human organ transplant occurs.npr NIH
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| 48 | 1955 |
- 12 Apr 1955: Jonas Salk announces his polio vaccine to the world.UMich CDC
- 15 Apr 1955: Ray Kroc opens his first McDonald's restaurant in Chicago, Illinois.CL McDonald's
- 11 Jun 1955: Disaster occurs at the Le Mans 24 hour race.Hagerty Hemmings
- 17 Jul 1955: The happiest place on Earth, Disneyland opens.DD T&L
- 19 Aug 1955: Hurricane Diane becomes the first storm to top $1 billion in damages in the U. S..NEHS NWS
- 31 Aug 1955: GM demonstrates the first solar-powered car.EEW GMA
- 1 Dec 1955: Seamstress Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat to a white man and is arrested for violating racial segregation laws.LoC THF
- 5 Dec 1955: The labor organizations AFL and CIO merge to form one.AFL-CIO SI
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| 49 | 1956 |
- 29 Jun 1956: The Federal-Aid Highway Act authorizes funding for an interstate highway system.DOT USNA
- 23 Jul 1956: While gathering data on aerodynamic heating, "Fastest Man Alive", Pete Everest, achieves a speed of Mach 2.87 at 68,000 feet in the Bell X-2 rocket plane setting the world aircraft speed record.NASA ChiTrib
- 25 Jul 1956: The Stockholm rams the Andrea Doria about 50 miles south of Nantucket.MassMoments CIMM
- 30 Jul 1956: "In God We Trust" becomes the national motto of the United States of America.Politico USTreasury
- 13 Sep 1956: IBM introduces the first computer hard disk drive.RN EDN
- 25 Sep 1956: The first transatlantic telephone is opened for business.CBC A-C
- 22 Dec 1956: A gorilla named Colo is born at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio - the first gorilla in the world born in captivity.CZ OHC
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| 50 | 1957 |
- 3 Jan 1957: The Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first battery operated, electric watch, the Ventura.W I R E D VHW
- 4 Sep 1957: Ford unveils the Edsel.EP AHM
- 27 Sep 1957—24 Oct 1958: Capelinhos Volcano - a volcano begins erupting off the west coast of Faial, Azores lasting 13 months, causing an economic disaster and forcing a mass migration to the United States.PAJ PM
- 4 Oct 1957: The Soviet Union successfully launches the world's first artificial satellite, Sputnik I.NASA
- 3 Nov 1957: Laika the dog becomes the first animal launched into orbit.Space NASA
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| 51 | 1958 |
- 31 Jan 1958: Explorer I, the first U. S. satellite, is launched into earth orbit.NASA SI
- 5 Feb 1958: A B-47 accidentally drops an unarmed thermonuclear bomb at the mouth of Georgia's Savannah River.npr AA
- 10 Feb 1958: MIT's Lincoln Laboratory bounces radar waves off Venus from their facility at Millstone Hill in Westford, Massachusetts.NASA Space
- 17 Mar 1958: Vanguard 1, the first solar-powered satellite, is launched.NASA Space
- 2 Apr 1958: U. S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower calls for a civilian National Aeronautics and Space Agency to oversee the US space program, NASA.NASA SCD
- 12 May 1958: NORAD is established.NORAD CAGov
- 29 Jul 1958: President Eisenhower authorizes creation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).DDE-PL NASA
- 4 Aug 1958: The premier of the Billboard Hot 100.Billboard MEAWW
- 4 Oct 1958: BOAC begins the first transatlantic jet aircraft passenger service.UA BA
- 9 Dec 1958: The right-wing John Birch Society is founded.History.com
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| 52 | 1959 |
- 3 Jan 1959: Alaska becomes a state.ThoughtCo 50States.com
- 22 Jan 1959: Coors introduces the first aluminum beer can.AlCircle BI
- 3 Feb 1959: Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, J. P. Richardson (The Big Bopper) and their pilot, Roger Peterson, are killed in a plane crash in an Iowa corn field.RollingStone VN
- 6 Feb 1959: Texas Instruments patents the integrated circuit.EarthSky PBS
- 17 Feb 1959: Vanguard II, the first weather satellite, is launched.SI NASA
- 22 Feb 1959: The first Daytona 500 is raced, with Lee Petty being declared the winner 3 days later.LoC MMCG
- 9 Mar 1959: The Barbie doll is introduced at the International Toy Fair in New York.JWA BM
- 9 Apr 1959: NASA announces its picks for the first U. S. astronauts, known collectively as the "Mercury Seven".NASA Space
- 8 Jun 1959: Missile Mail - 3,000 pieces of mail are delivered by a cruise missile fired from a U. S. Navy submarine.W I R E D SI
- 17 Jul 1959: Mary Leakey discovers the earliest hominid fossil at Olduvai Gorge.TIME LF
- 7 Aug 1959—1 Jul 1961: The United States launches Explorer 6, the first satellite to take and transmit images of the Earth.NASA KSC
- 21 Aug 1959: Hawaii becomes a state.ThoughtCo 50States.com
- 14 Sep 1959: The Soviet space probe, Luna 2, becomes the first man-made object to reach another celestial body, crashing onto the Moon.W I R E D NASA
- 7 Oct 1959: The first photographs of the far side of the Moon are taken by Luna 3.NASA
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