Evangelist Billy Graham—whose large-scale preaching missions, known as crusades, and friendship with numerous U.S. presidents brought him to international prominence—died at age 99. [Take our Christianity quiz.]

Aviator Steve Fossett became the first person to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon. It was the first of his many aviation records. [Take our quiz about the history of flight.]

Black revolutionary leader Malcolm X was assassinated while giving a speech in Manhattan. A profound and charismatic leader of the American civil rights movement, Malcolm disagreed with Martin Luther King, Jr.’s messages of nonviolence; his ideologies centered on Black power and the right to self-defense—views that made him many enemies. [Learn more about Malcolm X’s role in bolstering the Black Power movement]

Barbara Jordan, the first African American congresswoman from the Deep South, was born in Houston, Texas. [Read about seven female firsts in U.S. politics.]

The American weekly magazine The New Yorker began publication under Harold W. Ross. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about magazines.]

Reza Khan (later Reza Shah Pahlavi) overthrew the Qājār dynasty in Iran. [Read more about the rise of Reza Khan.]

The Battle of Verdun, one of the most devastating engagements of World War I, began. [Learn the brutal truths of the Battle of Verdun.]

W.H. Auden, one of the foremost English-language poets of his era, was born. His work became popular during the Great Depression. [Test your knowledge of the opening lines of famous poems.]

Anaïs Nin, whose literary reputation rests on the eight published volumes of her personal diaries, was born in France. Her contribution to literature was a point of controversy both while she was alive and after she died; some critics saw her work as narcissistic and self-indulgent, while others praised her work for its unique perspective on feminism. [Discover how well you know famous authors.]

Spanish musician Andrés Segovia, who was considered the foremost guitarist of his time, was born. [Take our music quiz.]

The Washington Monument was dedicated on the grounds of the Mall in Washington, D.C. It is the world’s tallest masonry structure. [How much do you know about the heights of historical monuments?]

Abstract sculptor Constantin Brancusi was born in Romania. [Learn about Brancusi’s sculptures.]

Lucy Hobbs Taylor, who studied at the Ohio College of Dental Surgery, became the first woman to earn a doctorate in dentistry. [Take our quiz about firsts in medicine.]

The Communist Manifesto, written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, was first published; the pamphlet became one of the largest guiding influences of the European socialist and communist parties in the 19th and early 20th centuries. [Test your knowledge of famous documents.]

Opera and ballet composer Léo Delibes, who was the first to write music of high quality for the ballet, was born in Saint-Germain-du-Val. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about ballet.]