Events
1959 - Mercury program: NASA announces the selection of the United States' first seven astronauts, which the news media quickly dub the "Mercury Seven" (see above).
1967 - The first Boeing 737 (a 100 series) takes its maiden flight.
Births
1770 - Thomas Johann Seebeck, German physicist
1806 - Isambard Kingdom Brunel, British engineer
1930 - F. Albert Cotton, American chemist
1932 - Jim Fowler, American zoologist
Deaths
1626 - Sir Francis Bacon, English philosopher and formative influence on the Royal Society of London
1889 - Michel Eugène Chevreul, French chemist
1951 - Vilhelm Bjerknes, Norwegian physicist
2002 - Leopold Vietoris, Austrian mathematician