1. On this day in 1779: The College of Pennsylvania became
the University of Pennsylvania. It was the first legally recognized university
in America.
2. On this day in 1895: At the Swedish–Norwegian Club in
Paris, Alfred Nobel signed his last will and testament, setting aside his
estate to establish the Nobel Prize after his death.
3. On this day in 1965: 1st French
satellite was launched. France became 3rd nation to launch a
satellite.
4. On this day in 1971: The Soviet space program's Mars 2
orbiter released a descent module. It malfunctioned and crashed, but it was the
first man-made object to reach the surface of Mars.
5. On this day in 1979: 1st day-night
one-day cricket international was held in Australia between Australia and the
West Indies.
6. On this day in 1993: Lisa Hanna, 18, of Jamaica,
was crowned 43rd Miss World.
7. On this day in 1999: The left-wing Labour Party
took control of the New Zealand government with leader Helen Clark. She was the
first elected female Prime Minister in New Zealand's history.
8. On this day in 2001: A hydrogen atmosphere was
discovered on the extrasolar planet Osiris by the Hubble Space Telescope, the
first atmosphere detected on an extrasolar planet.