American astronaut Bruce McCandless II, the first person to conduct an untethered free flight in space, died at age 80. [Take our quiz about famous astronauts and cosmonauts.]

The music video for South Korean singer PSY’s pop song Gangnam Style became the first video on YouTube to get one billion views.

Pan Am flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 259 people on board and 11 more on the ground. Years later, an employee of Libyan Arab Airlines was convicted of the terrorist attack, and the government of Libya agreed to pay damages to the families of the victims.

The Lancaster House Agreement was signed, bringing the Rhodesian Bush War to an end and establishing the process for Rhodesia to become the independent state of Zimbabwe. [Read an account of Zimbabwe’s struggle for independence written for Britannica by the country’s first prime minister.]

Apollo 8 was launched from Cape Kennedy (Cape Canaveral) and eventually completed 10 lunar orbits. [Explore a timeline of the Apollo missions.]

Charles de Gaulle was elected president of the French Fifth Republic. [Test your knowledge of French history.]

U.S. General George Patton, known as “Old Blood-and-Guts” by his men, died following an automobile accident in Germany. [Take our quiz about famous war personalities.]

The movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs premiered. It was Walt Disney’s first feature-length animated film, and its critical and commercial success determined his company’s path forward for decades. [What was Disney’s first cartoon animal?]

The New York World published the first modern crossword puzzle. [Did you know that puzzles can be traced back to ancient Egypt?]

Josh Gibson, who holds the Major League Baseball record for the highest career lifetime batting average, was born in Buena Vista, Georgia. [Learn more about the Negro leagues where Josh Gibson played.]

Future Nobel Prize winners Marie Curie and Pierre Curie discovered the radioactive chemical element radium, a silvery white metal used in early cancer treatment. [Read what Marie Curie and her daughter Irène Curie wrote for Encyclopædia Britannica in 1926.]

Union General William Tecumseh Sherman captured Savannah, Georgia, ending his March to the Sea during the American Civil War. [How much do you know about the American Civil War?]

The Battle of Firoz Shah began between British and Sikh forces during the First Sikh War. [Take our history of warfare quiz.]

Benjamin Disraeli, the statesman and novelist who was British prime minister twice (1868, 1874–80), was born in London. [Test your knowledge of notable prime ministers.]