The German Volkswagen Act came into force.

Initial flight of the de Havilland Comet, the first jet-powered airliner took place on 27 July 1949. Its first commercial flight was not until 2…

Mumbai, India receives 99.5cm of rain (39.17 inches) within 24 hours, resulting in floods killing over 5,000 people.

The Crossroads Baker device is the first underwater nuclear weapon test.

A high-speed train derails in Spain rounding a curve with an 80 km/h (50 mph) speed limit at 190 km/h (120 mph), killing 78 passengers.

The Ford Motor Company sells its first car.

Martial law in Poland is officially revoked.

NASA’s Space Shuttle program ends with the landing of Space Shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-135 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center

The Polaris missile is successfully launched from a submarine, the USS George Washington, for the first time.

In a private meeting with U.S. President Ronald Reagan, French President François Mitterrand reveals the existence of the Farewell Dossier, a collection of documents showing…