In 1607, an expedition of English colonists,k including Capt John Smith, went ashore at Cape Henry, Va., to establish the first permanent English settlement in the New World.
In 1785, the American naturalist and artist John James Audubon was born in Haiti.
In 1964, the African nations of Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged to form Tanzania.
In 1986, the worst nuclear accident in history occurred at the Chernobyl plant in the Soviet Union as an explosion and fire sent radioactivity into the atmosphere. At least 31 Soviets died as a direct result.
In 1989, Lucille Ball, actress and comediene died of a heart attack at the age of 77.
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Actress-comedian Carol Burnett (1933)
Guitarist-songwriter Duane Eddy (1938)
Singer Bobby Rydell (1942)
Rock musician Gary Wright (1943)
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"Belief in progress is a lay man's creed ... It is the individual counting on his neighbors to perform his task for him."