In 1800, the Library of Congress was established. President John Adams signed legislation that set aside $5000 to buy books that were necessary for the use of Congress.
In 1877, the Russian Empire decided to declare war on the Ottoman Empire. Russia was hoping of regaining some of the territory that it had lost during the Crimean War, in addition to getting lands on the Black Sea, in order to have a warm water port.
There were many space firsts on this day. In 1967, Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov became the first person to die during a space mission when he died on board Soyuz I. In 1970, the Chinese launched their first satellite into space. In 1990, the Space Shuttle Discovery launched the Hubble Telescope.
On this day in 2005, Cardinal Ratzinger became the 265th pope of the Roman Catholic Church, renaming himself Pope Benedict XVI. He replaced Pope John Paul II, who had been pope for quite a while during the 20th century.
On this day in 2005, the first cloned dog was born. His name was Snuppy, and he was born in South Korea. The very first cloned animal to be born was Dolly the sheep, who was cloned in 1996.
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