1896

An Austrian newspaper reported the discovery by German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen of a new type of radiation that came to be called “X-rays.”

1933

Construction began on the Golden Gate Bridge; the bridge was completed in May 1937.

1953

Samuel Beckett’s two-act tragicomedy “Waiting for Godot,” considered a classic of the Theater of the Absurd, premiered in Paris.

1957

President Dwight D. Eisenhower proposed assistance to countries to help them resist Communist aggression in what became known as the Eisenhower Doctrine.