October 7th, 2008

Today in History

1998:
Gay student Matthew Shepard, beaten the night before, is left tied to a fence and dies in Laramie, Wyoming, United States.

1958:
Potter Stewart appointed to U.S. Supreme Court.

1957:
A fire in the Windscale plutonium production reactor, in northern England, causes the release of radioactive material, which is later blamed for 39 cancer deaths.

1870:
Leon Gambetta flees Paris in balloon.

1542:
Explorer Cabrillo discovered Catalina Island off California coast.