Oregon Institute (later named Willamette University) opened in Salem, Oregon –
Andrew Campbell discovered the Luray Caverns in Virginia, when cold air from a sinkhole on a large hill extinguished his candle –
Last spike driven for first stage of Esquimalt-Nanaimo Railway in Cliffside, B.C. –
Samuel Leeds Allen granted patent for Flexible Flyer sled –
L’il Abner comic strip debuted –
The Walt Disney classic, Bambi, opened this day at Radio City Music Hall in New York City –
Canso Causeway, linking Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island, opened –
A plane flew into a hurricane for the first series of bumpy flights for the National Hurricane Research Project, then part of the U.S. Weather Bureau –
The East German government closed the border between east and west sectors of Berlin with barbed wire fencing to discourage further population movement to the west. Later in the week a concrete wall was erected to strengthen the barrier between official crossing points –
3-year-old Jamie Gavin became the youngest heart/lung transplant patient –
American swimmer Michael Phelps won his 10th and 11th Olympic gold medals making him the most decorated Olympian in history –
Weather
Blue sun observed widely in the South, thought to presage Nat Turner slave uprising: phenomenon continued for several days –
Hurricane Connie hit the North Carolina coast with winds up to 87 miles per hour –
Four people were injured when lightning hit and shattered a utility pole in Belmont, New Hampshire –
Nine people were injured after a lightning strike at a day camp in Pelham, New Hampshire –
