In 1660, Prince Rupert of the Rhine presented King Charles II with an unusual glass object.

Monturiol returned to his hometown of Figueres and began designing a submarine. Drawing on his father’s craft as a cooper and aided by builders, he created the Ictíneo in 1859.

British breweries, including Heneger and Constable, stepped forward to donate beer for the troops. To deliver it, pilots repurposed the underwing pylons of Spitfire Mk IX fighters, normally used for bombs or fuel tanks.

Frustrated with his male assistant’s inefficiency, Pickering dismissed him and gave the job to his maid, Williamina Fleming.

In the early 1980s, an ambitious architectural project rose in the Paris suburbs.

Robert Redford was born Charles Robert Redford Jr. on August 18, 1936, in Santa Monica, California.

In July 1831 the sea between Sicily and Tunisia boiled with ash and gas. A new island rose from the submarine volcano now known as Empedocles.

On November 22, 1963, Dallas dressmaker Abraham Zapruder stood on a concrete pedestal along Elm Street with his 8 mm Bell & Howell camera and recorded about 26 seconds of color, silent footage of President John F. Kennedy’s motorcade.

In the late 1960s, Los Angeles streets echoed with the eccentric songs of Larry “Wild Man” Fischer, who offered spontaneous a cappella tunes to strangers for a dime.

In the spring of 1962 a short, stocky Russian walked into the FBI’s Midtown Manhattan office and offered to spy for the United States.