Aesop's Fables are told to children all over the world. In the early 1400s, if you wanted to read them in English, you'd have to find a hand-printed version. In 1484, William Caxton printed his translation of these fables on his printing press in English, making them more accessible for everyone.
In the early days of the automobile, anybody who had the money could drive a car. In 1934, the United Kingdom introduced a driving test, so not everybody with the cash could get on the road. Today it has become a rite of passage for teenagers everywhere.
In the early 1900s, polio was a devastating disease. Many children died or were crippled after getting it, including a future United States president. On this day in 1953, Jonas Salk announced that he had tested his polio vaccine successfully.
Think that politicians and the English Royal family are behind the times? On this day in 1976, Queen Elizabeth II sent her first email, several years before most people had ever even heard of it.
In the late 1990s, "Dr. Death," also known as Dr. Jack Kevorkian, was in the news for helping people commit suicide. In 1999, he was convicted of murder after he did a little more than just dispense advice: he actually administered a lethal injection to an ill man.
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