1880

Thomas Edison received a patent for his electric incandescent lamp.

1945

During World War II, Soviet troops liberated the Nazi concentration camps Auschwitz and Birkenau in Poland.

1967

Astronauts Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, Edward H. White and Roger B. Chaffee died in a flash fire during a test aboard their Apollo spacecraft at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

1973 The Vietnam peace accords were signed in Paris, ending direct U.S. war involvement.