1813 – Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is first published in the United Kingdom.

The beer can turns 80 this weekend, celebrate by cracking open a cold one

1984 – The first Apple Macintosh goes on sale.

1978 – Soviet satellite Kosmos 954, with a nuclear reactor on board, burns up in Earth's atmosphere, scattering radioactive debris over Canada's Northwest Territories. Only 1% is recovered.

1972 – Japanese Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi is found hiding in a Guam jungle, where he had been since the end of World War II.

1961 – Goldsboro B-52 crash: A bomber carrying two H-bombs breaks up in mid-air over North Carolina. The uranium core of one weapon remains lost.

2003 – Final communication between Earth and Pioneer 10.

1986 – The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducts its first members: Little Richard, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Fats Domino, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley.

1984 – The Apple Macintosh, the first consumer computer to popularize the computer mouse and the graphical user interface, is introduced during Super Bowl XVIII with its famous "1984" television commercial.

1973 – The Supreme Court of the United States delivers its decisions in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, legalizing elective abortion in all fifty states.

1968 – Apollo 5 lifts off carrying the first Lunar module into space.

1981 – Production of the iconic DeLorean DMC-12 sports car begins in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland.

1968 – A B-52 bomber crashes near Thule Air Base, contaminating the area after its nuclear payload ruptures. One of the four bombs remains unaccounted for after the cleanup operation is complete.

Stuff that happened in the year the house currently known as The Dragons' Roost was built (1927)...

January 7 – The first transatlantic telephone call is made via radio from New York City to London.

January 15 – Teddy Wakelam gives the first sports commentary on BBC Radio.

February 23 – The U.S. Federal Radio Commission (later renamed the Federal Communications Commission) begins to regulate the use of radio frequencies.

March 13 – Fritz Lang's culturally influential film Metropolis premieres in Germany.

April 14 – The first Volvo automobile rolled off the production line in Gothenburg, Sweden.

May 11 – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the "Academy" in "Academy Awards", is founded.

May 20–21 – Charles Lindbergh makes the first solo, nonstop transatlantic airplane flight, carried out from New York City to Paris, France, in his single-engined aircraft, the Spirit of St. Louis.

September 18 – The Columbia Phonographic Broadcasting System (later known as CBS) is formed and goes on the air with 47 radio stations.

Date Unknown - World population reaches two billion.

1808 - Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, King Of Holland, signs 1st Dutch aviation law, regulating ballooning.

2006 – The New Horizons probe is launched by NASA on the first mission to Pluto.

1986 – The first IBM PC computer virus is released into the wild. A boot sector virus dubbed (c)Brain, it was created by the Farooq Alvi Brothers in Lahore, Pakistan, reportedly to deter piracy of the software they had written.

1983 – The Apple Lisa, the first commercial personal computer from Apple Inc. to have a graphical user interface and a computer mouse, is announced.

1978 – The last Volkswagen Beetle made in Germany leaves VW's plant in Emden. Beetle production in Latin America continues until 2003.

1977 – Snow falls in Miami. This is the only time in the history of the city that snow has fallen. It also fell in The Bahamas.