Karl Benz patented the gasoline-operated motor car.
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Musical 'Grease' opened at the New London Theatre.
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.
Dr. Zabdiel Boylston of Harvard University gave the first smallpox inoculations in Boston following America's biggest outbreak.
The US Navy's Vanguard SLV-2 launch vehicle failed to reach Earth's orbit.
