This Day in History Class

On this day in 1962, eighteen-year-old Peter Fechter was gunned down by East German border guards while attempting to climb over the Berlin Wall. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this day in 1898, inventor and mechanic Edwin Prescott was granted the first patent for a vertical loop roller coaster. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this day in 1057, Malcolm Canmore avenged his father’s death by slaying King Macbeth of Scotland at the Battle of Lumphanan. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this day in 1990, fossil hunters in South Dakota uncovered the largest and most complete T. rex skeleton ever found. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this day in 1866, James Plimpton opened the first public roller skating rink in the United States. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this day in 1846, thanks to an unusual bequest from British scientist James Smithson, the Smithsonian Institution was established in the United States. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this day in 1944, Smokey Bear was chosen as the mascot of a new forest fire prevention campaign in the United States. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this day in 1963, a masked gang committed the most notorious train robbery in British history, when they stole £2.6 million from a Traveling Post Office.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this day in 1953, with the Korean War winding down, both sides of the conflict began to exchange their remaining prisoners. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this day in 1821, The Saturday Evening Post published its inaugural issue. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this day in 1977, electronics retailer RadioShack unveiled the TRS-80, one of the first personal computers marketed to the average consumer. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this day in 1790, federal marshals set out on horseback to begin the first official count of the American people. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this day in 1981, MTV went on the air for the first time at 12:01 AM.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this day in 1588, the Spanish Armada was defeated by an English naval force off the coast of Gravelines, France. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this day in 1933, a Western Union operator named Lucille Lipps delivered the company’s first singing telegram. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this day in 1940, cartoon icon Bugs Bunny appeared for the first time in the Warner Bros. animated short “A Wild Hare.” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this day in 1184, dozens of noblemen plunged to their deaths after a floor collapsed above a monastery cesspit in modern-day Germany. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this day in 1990, actress and comedian Roseanne Barr sang an ear-splitting rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” before the start of a Major League Baseball game.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this day in 1959, Ed Wood’s campy cult classic Plan 9 from Outer Space premiered in theaters. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this day in 1983, at Russia’s Vostok research station in Antarctica, scientists reported the coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this day in 1801, the town of Cheshire, Massachusetts, made a 1,235-pound cheese wheel as a gift for President Thomas Jefferson. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this day in 1979, during a tropical storm, two enormous supertankers collided off the coast of Tobago. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this day in 1936, Oscar Mayer’s original Wienermobile made its debut in the company’s hometown of Chicago.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this day in 1976, three men kidnapped a school bus driver and 26 children in Chowchilla, California. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this day in 1946, Dr. Benjamin Spock’s seminal book about child care was published for the first time. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.