Karl Benz patented the gasoline-operated motor car.
Source
The first Harry Potter book, 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone,' hit the shelves in the UK.
The emperor of China patented the toothbrush using coarse boar bristles.
The US Navy's Vanguard SLV-2 launch vehicle failed to reach Earth's orbit.
Musical 'Grease' opened at the New London Theatre.
Dr. Zabdiel Boylston of Harvard University gave the first smallpox inoculations in Boston following America's biggest outbreak.