1613 – The original Globe Theatre in London burned to the ground after a cannon employed for special effects misfired during a performance of William Shakespeare’s Henry VIII and ignited the theatre’s roof. Sure! Blame the pyro guy. According to one of the few surviving documents of the event, no one was hurt except a man whose burning breeches were put out with a bottle of ale. Yeah, in its day, Shakespeare was “must-see TV”, the entertainment of the masses.

1922 – France grants 1 km² at Vimy Ridge “freely, and for all time, to the Government of Canada, the free use of the land exempt from all taxes”. Can you imagine how much foreign blood has been spilled in France over that last hundred years just so they don’t have to speak German?

1956 – The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 is signed, officially creating the United States Interstate Highway System.

2007 – Apple Inc. releases their first mobile phone, the iPhone.