On this day in 1952 on an atoll of the Marshall Islands, Edward Teller and other American scientists tested the first thermonuclear bomb, its power resulting from an uncontrolled, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction.
Just five days after nearly 13 million shares of U.S. stock were sold in one day in 1929, an additional 16 million shares were sold this day, called “Black Tuesday,� further fueling the crisis known as the Great Depression.
On this day in 1886 U.S. President Grover Cleveland officially dedicated the Statue of Liberty—a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States—on Bedloe's (later Liberty) Island in Upper New York Bay.
On this day in 1983, suicide bombers drove truckloads of high explosives into the barracks of U.S. Marines and French paratroopers in Beirut, killing 241 U.S. servicemen and 58 French troops.
On this day in 1962, President John F. Kennedy alerted Americans to the Cuban missile crisis, declaring a naval blockade to prevent further missile shipments to the island country 90 miles (145 km) off the coast of the U.S.
Australia's Sydney Opera House—designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, whose dynamic, imaginative, but problematic plan won an international competition in 1957—was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on this day in 1973.
On this day in 1991 In the Ötztal Alps on the Italian-Austrian border, German tourists discovered a mummified human body (later known as the Iceman) that was subsequently determined to date from 3300
On this day in 1970 American rock guitarist and singer Jimi Hendrix—who fused American traditions of blues, jazz, rock, and soul with techniques of British avant-garde rock to redefine the electric guitar in his own image—died of an overdose of barbiturates in London.
On this day in 1787 The U.S. Constitution was signed by 39 delegates of the Constitutional Convention.
On this date in 1620, English colonists aboard the Mayflower set sail for America, where they founded Plymouth, Massachusetts, after 41 men, including William Bradford and Myles Standish, signed the Mayflower Compact.
On this day in 1862 During the American Civil War, Confederates under General Stonewall Jackson captured Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now in West Virginia), and took more than 12,500 prisoners, the largest Union surrender in the war.
On this day in 2009 American dancer and actor Patrick Swayze, who was best known for his performances in the box-office hits Dirty Dancing (1987) and Ghost (1990), died in Los Angeles after battling pancreatic cancer.
On this day in 1971 A revolt at New York's Attica Correctional Facility ended after a bloody state police assault on the prison, in which 29 inmates and 10 hostages were killed.
On this day in 2003 Country music legend Johnny Cash—whose craggy baritone, simple poetics, hard-won integrity, and advocacy of the dispossessed transformed him into an American icon—died in Nashville.
On this day in 2001, 19 militants associated with the terrorist group al-Qaeda hijacked four planes in the United States, crashing three into buildings (the fourth crashed in Pennsylvania) and killing some 3,000 people.
On this day in 2008 The Large Hadron Collider, the world's most powerful particle accelerator, conducted its first test operation.
On this day in 1966 American comedian and actor Adam Sandler, who was known for his portrayal of infantile but endearing characters, was born.
On this day in 1998 Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals broke Roger Maris's 1961 record for most home runs in a regular professional baseball season by hitting his 62nd of the season (he finished the season with 70 home runs).
On this day in 1996 American rapper and actor Tupac Shakur, one of the leading names in 1990s gangsta rap, was shot by an unknown assailant and died six days later.