Today in 1957, the Space Age began as the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first man-made satellite, into orbit.
Today in 1976, US Agriculture Secretary Earl Butz resigned in the wake of a controversy over a crude, racist joke he'd made about African Americans a few days before. At the time, only two newspapers printed the remarks in their entirety.
Today in 1976, Barbara Walters joined Harry Reasoner at the anchor desk of the "ABC Evening News" for the first time, making Walters the first woman to anchor a network evening newscast.
Today in 1997, hundreds of thousands of men attended a “Promise Keepers” rally in Washington D.C.
Today in 1997, the largest cash robbery in US history occurred at the Charlotte, North Carolina office of Loomis, Fargo and Company with $17.3-million in cash taken. Sound familiar? The story of the heist was portrayed in the film, “Masterminds,” starring Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig, Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis.
Today in 2001, SF Giants slugger Barry Bonds hit his 70th home run in 10-2 win v Houston; ties Mark McGwire for the most MLB home runs in a single season. Bonds also moved past Reggie Jackson on the all-time list with his 564th career home run.
Today in 2004, SpaceShipOne won a $10-million Ansari X Prize for private spaceflight.
Today in 2006, WikiLeaks launched.
Today in 2011, the State Department listed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (ISIS/ISIL) as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist with a $10-million reward for information leading to his capture. The reward now stands at $25-million – and he remains at large.
Today in 2018, New England Patriot Tom Brady became only the third NFL quarterback to record 500 career touchdown passes as he connects with Josh Gordon in Patriots' 38-24 win over the Indianapolis Colts at Foxborough.
Today in 2021, there was a global outage of Facebook and its apps, including Instagram and WhatsApp, for six hours.
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