A highwayman, Nicolas Pelletier, was the first man to be executed by the guillotine in Paris, France.
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Bell Labs demonstrated the first practical silicon solar cell in New Jersey, US.
Porsche was officially added to the commercial register in Germany.
Romania and Bulgaria signed the European Union's Treaty of Accession, the last step to joining the Union.
The Peloponnesian war came to an end when Admiral Lysander and his Spartan armies defeated their Athenian foes.
Francis Crick & James Watson's discovery of the double-helix structure of DNA was formally announced.
