Earthquake hits Kobe, Japan  Read more...

A B-52 carrying four H-bombs collided with a refueling tanker, killing eight of the crew and releasing the bombs 

English explorer Robert Falcon Scott reached the South Pole Norwegian Roald Amundsen had beaten him there by one month 

Robert Scott expedition arrives at South Pole, 1 month after Amundsen 

Francis Galton, English anthropologist and explorer, dies 

Punchboards patented by Charles Brewer and C G Scannell, Chicago 

Anton Chekhovs Cherry Orchard opens at Moscow Art Theater 

Captain Cook's Resolution became the first ship to cross the Antarctic Circle 

Benjamin Franklin, US statesman and scientist, is born