Edwin Prescott was awarded a patent for the vertical loop Roller Coaster.
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Nikephoros II Phokas was crowned emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
NASA launched its Active Magnetospheric Particle Tracer Explorers mission (AMPTE) from the Cape Canaveral launch pad.
A solar flare from the sun created a geomagnetic storm, which caused Toronto's stock market to halt.
Cyprus gained its independence from the United Kingdom.
Julian Assange, who founded WikiLeaks, was given political asylum by Ecuador.