NASA’s spacecraft Stardust collected dust grains from the comet Wild 2. The cometary material was later revealed to contain the amino acid glycine, an essential building block of life. [Take our space exploration quiz.]

After defeating the incumbent Democrat by nearly one million votes, Ronald Reagan—a one-time actor who had become a major figure in conservative Republican politics—was sworn in as governor of California. [How much do you know about the history of American politics?]

Emil Jannings—who won the first Academy Award for best actor for his roles in The Way of All Flesh (1927) and The Last Command (1928)—died in Austria. [Take our film buff quiz.]

The trial of Bruno Hauptmann, who was charged with kidnapping and murdering the infant son of aviator Charles Lindbergh, began. Hauptmann, who denied involvement in the crime, was found guilty and executed in 1936. [Test your knowledge of criminality and famous outlaws.]

The most spectacular of the Palmer Raids took place when thousands of people were arrested in more than 30 U.S. cities, accused of being foreign anarchists, communists, or radical leftists. The raids, led by U.S. Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer with a primary goal of deporting those arrested, were the culmination of the era’s Red Scare.

Russian forces surrendered Port Arthur (later Lüshun, China) to the Japanese in the Russo-Japanese War. [Take our quiz about the history of war.]

Sally Rand, who achieved fame as a fan dancer in the 1930s and later deployed five-foot elastic bubbles in her performances, was born in Elkton, Missouri. [Test your knowledge of American personalities.]

Dziga Vertov, a motion-picture director whose kino-glaz (“film-eye”) theory was widely influential during the 1920s, was born in Russia. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about film.]

The Battle of Stones River came to an end during the American Civil War; bloody but indecisive, the clash was a psychological victory for the Union forces, which were led by General William S. Rosecrans. [Do you know who won which battles during the American Civil War?]

Frederick William IV, king of Prussia from 1840, died at Sanssouci Palace on this day in 1861. [Test your knowledge of kings and queens.]

Ferdinand II and Isabella I, the first monarchs of unified Spain, captured Granada, ending a centuries-long series of military campaigns waged by Christian states against Muslim rulers in Spain and Portugal.