1606: The Union Jack was adopted as the official flag of England.
1682: The first pressure cooker was unveiled in London.
1861: The American Civil War began when Confederate troops fired on the federal garrison at Fort Sumter.
1911: Pierre Prier made the first non-stop flight from London to Paris. The journey took four hours.
1922: Fatty Arbuckle was acquitted of rape in San Francisco, but his career was in ruins after revelations about his unusual sex life.
1954: "Rock Around The Clock" was recorded by Bill Haley and The Comets.
1961: Soviet cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin, became the first man to orbit the earth. he was in space for 108 minutes.
1972: T Rex was a number one in the charts with "Hot Love".
1975: David Bowie announced his second retirement.
1981: The first American space shuttle, Columbia, was launched from Cape Canaveral.
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