The Penny Black postage stamp was issued in 1840, the Channel Tunnel opened in 1994, the Hindenburg exploded in 1937, Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile barrier in 1954, the Works Progress Administration was created in 1933, Hitler’s diaries were a hoax in 1983, Pope John Paul II entered a mosque in 2001, the last episode of Friends aired in 2004, and Orson Welles was born in 1915.
First postage stamp issued (1840) Known as the Penny Black, the first postage stamp to be used in a public postal system was issued in Great Britain on this day. It cost a penny and is now an extremely rare and popular collector’s item among philatelists.
The channel has opened. (1994) The Channel Tunnel, or Chunnel, officially opened on this day, linking Britain and France for the first time since prehistoric times. It cost over $16 million US dollars (USD) to build and is considered one of the seven wonders of the modern world.
The Hindenburg exploded. (1937) It was one of the first major aviation disasters, and it was even more dramatic because the accident was broadcast live on the radio. Thirty-six people died and many more suffered severe burns and other injuries.
Roger Bannister broke the four minute mile barrier. (1954) People had thought it physically impossible to run a mile in under four minutes until Bannister did it in Oxford that day. His record didn’t last long – improvements in running techniques made the four-minute mile more common – but he was still the first to prove it possible with a time of three minutes and 59.4 seconds.
President Franklin Roosevelt created the Works Progress Administration (WPA). (1933) Part of the “alphabet soup” programs created by FDR, the WPA created more than 3 million jobs, most of which were in public works such as road construction or the restoration of historic buildings.
It turned out that Hitler’s diaries were a hoax. (1983) Fragments of the alleged diaries had been published in Stern, a German magazine which had surreptitiously bought them for millions of dollars. Historians and researchers quickly discovered this was a hoax after analyzing the diaries, discovering that the materials used to make the diary were from the 1980s, not the 1940s.
Pope John Paul II became the first pope to enter a mosque. (2001) John Paul II visited the Umayyad Mosque as part of a visit to Syria and gave a speech on the importance of peace between Christians and Muslims. He was also the first pope to pay an official papal visit to a synagogue.
The last episode of Friends aired. (2004) The hugely popular show had been on the air for over ten years and over five million people tuned in to see its finale.
The Magnum XL-200 became the world’s first hypercoaster. (1989) It was the first full circuit roller coaster with a height of more than 200 feet (70 meters) and sparked the so-called roller coaster wars, as different parks began building higher and higher roller coasters.
Orson Welles is born. (1915) Welles was a hugely influential, if often controversial, radio and film star. He is best remembered for Citizen Kane and the War of the Worlds radio show, as well as his distinctive low voice.
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