In 1606: Guy Fawkes, convicted for his part in the “Gunpowder Plot” against the English Parliament and King James I, was executed.

In 1945: Private Eddie Slovik became the only U.S. soldier since the Civil War to be executed for desertion.

In 1950: President Truman announced that he had ordered development of the hydrogen bomb.

In 1958: The United States made its first successful launch of a satellite into orbit, Explorer I.