Discover What Happened Today in History
Howard Hughes piloted the world's largest flying boat, the H-4 Hercules, on its only flight over Long Beach Harbor, California. The massive aircraft, built primarily of wood, flew for about one mile at an altitude of 70 feet.
British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour issued a public statement expressing the British government's support for the establishment of a 'national home for the Jewish people' in Palestine. This declaration was a pivotal moment in the history of Zionism and the Middle East.
The British Broadcasting Corporation began the world's first regular public television service with a high-definition picture from Alexandra Palace in London. This marked the start of scheduled TV broadcasting as we know it.
Expedition 1, consisting of one American and two Russian cosmonauts, docked with the International Space Station, marking the beginning of a continuous human presence in space aboard the orbiting laboratory.
New Zealand-born astronomer Sir Sandford Fleming first proposed the system of worldwide standard time zones at a meeting of the Royal Canadian Institute. His idea was to divide the world into 24 time zones, each one hour apart.