Major Gordon Laing became the first non-Muslim to enter Timbuktu.
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The United States Exploring Expedition set sail.
A funeral was held in Iceland for the loss of the Okjökull glacier.
French astronomer Pierre Janssen first recorded evidence of helium, a then-unknown element.
James Meredith became the first African American to graduate from the University of Mississippi.
The USS Indianapolis warship, which sank during World War II, was discovered in the Pacific Ocean 3.4 miles below the surface.
