2021
Discovery of the first true millipede (Eumillipes persephone) with 1,000 legs found down a drill hole in Western Australia published in “Scientific Reports”.
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2020
More than 300 school boys rescued after they were kidnapped from their school in Katsina state, northern Nigeria.
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2019
Australia recorded its hottest day ever with an average temperature of 105°F across the country.
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2018
Dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster’s stated their word of the year was “justice.”
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2012
NASA completed a successful mission to map the Moon’s gravity field.
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2003
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King was released in theaters.
The movie made $72 million on its opening weekend and became the second film to gross over $1 billion worldwide.
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1989
The first full-length episode of The Simpsons aired on FOX.
The episode “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire” was nominated for two Emmy Awards in 1990 and received positive reviews from television critics. Approximately 13.4 million people watched it during its original airing.
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1986
American mafia hitman Richard Kuklinski was arrested at a roadblock.
After Special Agent Polifrone went undercover to lure out Kuklinski, Polifrone gave Kuklinski some fake cyanide to use for a murder. Kuklinski found out later that it was fake and decided to not go through with the hit but was arrested at a roadblock on his way home.
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1973
Terrorists attacked Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino International Airport, leaving thirty dead.
Shortly before Pan-Am flight 110 departed from the airport, five armed Palestinian terrorists walked out onto the tarmac and started shooting at the plane. During the attack, the aircraft itself was destroyed, but most passengers were able to escape with their lives.
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1965
The Houston Astrodome opened.
The Astrodome was the world’s first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas. The first event held was a concert with Judy Garland and The Supremes.
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1947
The Boeing B-47 Stratojet Strategic bomber plane made its first flight.
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1903
The first sustained motorized aircraft flight took place.
Piloted by Orville Wright in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the Wright brothers finally made their first successful aircraft flight. The aircraft traveled about 850 feet in one minute.
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1892
The first issue of Vogue magazine was published.
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1790
The Aztec Sun Stone was discovered in Mexico City.
The stone features markings that indicate central components of Aztec beliefs in regards to the universe, the sun, and the link between various ideologies such as warfare.
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1538
Pope Paul III excommunicated King Henry VIII of England.
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497 BC
The festival of Saturnalia was first celebrated after a temple to the Roman god Saturn was built in Rome.
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