French astronomer Pierre Janssen first recorded evidence of helium, a then-unknown element.
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James Meredith became the first African American to graduate from the University of Mississippi.
Major Gordon Laing became the first non-Muslim to enter Timbuktu.
A funeral was held in Iceland for the loss of the Okjökull glacier.
There were sightings of a giant sea serpent in Gloucester, Massachusetts.
North Carolina, US, was hit by hurricane Bob.