It was the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in North America and the third biggest in the history of the world.
The first successful passenger elevator was installed on this day at 488 Broadway in New York City.
Jean-Baptiste Lully, the Italian composer whose fast-tempoed music livened up the court of France's Louis XIV, died on this day after a 3-month battle with an infection that started with a smashed toe.
Jim Bridger was one of the first white men to see the geysers of Yellowstone and the Great Salt Lake.
This pitchfork-wielding Saint drove the grasshoppers out of Finland, or so they say.
The International Flying Saucer Bureau asked all its members to send out a collective telepathic greeting to visitors from outer space.
It would flow out of control for 18 months. Over 9 million barrels of crude oil were spilled before the well could finally be contained. At its peak, the spill formed a 60-acre lake of oil.
Fannie Lou Hamer was the granddaughter of slaves who grew up to be a freedom fighter.