This Day in History Class

On this day in 1780, the sky in New England and parts of Canada turned unusually dark in an event remembered as the "Dark Day."

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On this day in 1953, aviator Jackie Cochran became the first woman to fly faster than the speed of sound.

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On this day in 1954, groundwork began on the CERN site at Meyrin in Geneva, Switzerland.

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On this day in 1966, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued the May 16 Notification, marking the start of the Cultural Revolution.

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On this day in 1903, mathematician and archaeologist Maria Reiche was born. Throughout her life, Reiche was dedicated to studying the Nazca Lines.

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On this day in 1878, a suit was brought against Daniel Spofford in Salem, Massachusetts, for allegedly practicing mesmerism on Lucretia Brown.

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On this day in 1861, Australian amateur astronomer John Tebbutt first observed the Great Comet of 1861.

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On this day in 1941, civil engineer and inventor Konrad Zuse, who worked in Nazi Germany, unviled the first full functional, programmable computer.

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On this day in 1895, composer William Grant Still was born in Mississippi.

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On this day in 1919, a riot began when white sailors began attacking Black people in Charleston, South Carolina.

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