- 1006 Supernova observed by Chinese and Egyptians in constellation Lupus
- 1704 Boston News-Letter publishes first newspaper advertisement
- 1776 German philosopher Adam Weishaupt founds the secret society of the Illuminati
1840 "Penny Black," the world's first adhesive postage stamp is issued by the United Kingdom
- 1851 First public flushing toilets the 'Monkey Closets' unveiled by George Jennings as part of The Great Exhibition at Hyde Park, London, costing one penny
- 1873 US issues the world's first government postal card
- 1884 Construction begins on Chicago's first skyscraper (10 stories)
World's Columbian Exposition
1893 World's Columbian Exposition showcasing technological innovations (original Ferris wheel, first moving walkway) opens in Chicago to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the "New World"
- 1908 World's most intense rainfall (2.47 inches in 3 minutes) occurs in Portobelo, Panama
- 1927 Imperial Airways is the first British airliner to serve cooked meals
- 1930 The planet Pluto is officially named by 11-year-old English schoolgirl Venetia Burney
1939 Batman first appears in Detective Comics #27
- 1949 Gerard Kuiper discovers Nereid, Neptune's second-largest moon
- 1952 Mr. Potato Head is first introduced by toy company Hasbro
1955 Showgirl Linda Lawson is crowned "Miss-Cue" in the Atomic Pageant, after the Operation Cue test is repeatedly delayed by high winds
- 1964 First BASIC program runs on a computer at Dartmouth College
- 1971 Amtrak begins operations with its first train running from New York City to Philadelphia
World Wide Web
1989 Tim Berners-Lee, working at CERN, submits his initial proposal for the World Wide Web (WWW)
SpongeBob SquarePants
1999 Animated series "SpongeBob SquarePants," created by Stephen Hillenburg, debuts on Nickelodeon
- 2013 A digital camera is created that can mimic insect compound eyes
- 2018 Chinese authorities label British cartoon "Peppa Pig" subversive and it is removed from the Douyin video website
- 2019 Evidence reveals that early humans from ancient Denisovan species lived at high altitudes on the Tibetan Plateau 160,000 years ago
- 2019 New York City officially names a street Sesame Street at the intersection of West 63rd Street and Broadway in honor of the show's 50th anniversary
