1834 ~ Cyrus McCormick patented the first practical mechanical reaper for farming. His invention allowed farmers to more than double their crop size.

1859 ~ Andrew Lanergan received the first rocket patent.

1913 ~ Georgia Broadwick became the first woman to jump from an airplane.

1938 ~ In Washington, U.S. President Roosevelt signed the $3.75 billion Emergency Relief Appropriation Act.

1939 ~ Lou Gehrig quit baseball due to illness.

1938 ~ In Washington, U.S. President Roosevelt signed the $3.75 billion Emergency Relief Appropriation Act.

1939 ~ Lou Gehrig quit baseball due to illness.

1941 ~ German troops entered Russia on a front from the Arctic to Black Sea.

1945 ~ Pan Am announced an 88-hour round-the-world flight at a cost of $700

1954 ~ The American Cancer Society reported significantly higher death rates among cigarette smokers than among non-smokers.

1958 ~ Linus Pauling and Detlev Bronke, both Americans, were elected to the Soviet Academy of Science.

1960 ~ In Zurich, German, Armin Hary ran 100-meters in a record 10.0 seconds.

1963 ~ In St. Louis, Bob Hayes set a record when he ran the 100-yard dash in 0:09.1.

1973 ~ The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states may ban materials found to be obscene according to local standards.

1981 ~ "Raiders of the Lost Ark" opened.

1982 ~ A jury in Washington, DC, found John Hinckley Jr. innocent by reason of insanity in the shootings of U.S. President Reagan and three other men.

1989 ~ The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that burning the American flag as a form of political protest was protected by the First Amendment.

1993 ~ In Madrid, five senior military officers and two civilians were killed by a car bomb. 24 people were injured. The Basque terror group claimed responsibility.

2001 ~ Former Haitian Army colonel Carl Dorelien taken into custody in Port St. Lucie. Dorelien had been in exile since 1994 when he was sentenced to life in prison for his role in a 1994 massacre.