A steamboat patent was granted to the American engineer and inventor Robert Fulton.
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The BBC broadcast the world's first science fiction television program, an adaptation of the play R.U.R.
Koalas were listed as endangered for the first time in Australian history.
Nelson Mandela was released from prison after being incarcerated for 27 years in South Africa.
The comic book 'Archie' was first published.
A 44 lb lobster was captured off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada.
