The Dutch expedition captained by Admiral Van Warwyck first sighted Mauritius.
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The fourth great fire of San Francisco happened, destroying a considerable portion of the city.
Linus Torvalds released the first version of the Linux operating system kernel for free on the Internet.
Dutch scientist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek declared his discovery of microorganisms to the Royal Society in London.
NASA unveiled its first space shuttle, the Space Shuttle Enterprise.
Miss America crowned Vanessa Williams, the first black winner, in New York City.
