2020
China’s space agency launched a classified spacecraft into orbit atop a Long March 2F rocket.
Not much is known about the specifics of the launch, but from what experts have gathered, the launch’s payload was most likely a reusable spaceplane. Whatever it was, it reached an altitude of 217 miles (350 km), deposited an unknown object into orbit, and then returned to what is most likely the Taklamakan Desert in China’s northwest.
Source

2019
YouTube was fined $170 million for collecting data on child users.
Source

2018
A 400-year-old shipwreck was discovered just 15 miles off the coast of Portugal.
Among the debris, pieces of Chinese porcelain, bronze cannon, and even peppercorns were found. It is thought the vessel was a trade ship between Europe and Asia.
Source

2018
Amazon became the second company in the world to be worth over $1 trillion.
This came just five short weeks after Apple was the first company to reach the same value.
Source

2016
Mother Teresa was declared a saint by Pope Francis during a ceremony at the Vatican.
Source

1998
Google was founded.
On this day, Larry Page and Sergey Brin created Google as a private company in California. However, the first initial public offering wasn’t until much later, on August 19, 2004.
Source

1998
International TV game show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” was shown for the first time in the UK, with Chris Tarrant as the host.
It wasn’t long before the US caught on to the game, and they released their own version on ABC on August 16, 1999.
Source

1995
The fantasy TV series “Xena: Warrior Princess” premiered on NBC in the US.
Source

1893
Beatrix Potter wrote her first story of Peter Rabbit in the form of a letter for Noel Moore.
Noel Morre was the son of Annie Moore, Beatrix’s former governess. Beatrix heard Noel was ill, so she wrote entertaining stories to keep him in good spirits.
Source

1888
Inventor George Eastman patented camera shutters and trademarked the name “Kodak.”
Source

1885
The first cafeteria in the US opened in New York City.
Source

1882
The first power plant in the US, “Pearl Street Station,” in Manhattan, New York, started generating electricity.
Source

1282
Peter III of Aragon became the King of Sicily.
Source