This day in history

Some notable historical events that happened today include:

1783 -  in the Aerostat Reveillon, balloonists Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier launched the first living creatures into the air in the basket of a balloon. The sheep, duck and rooster landed safely 3 minutes later 

1876 -  Melville Bissell received patent No. 182,346 for his invention for the first successful carpet sweeper

1893 -  New Zealand became the first country in the world to grant women the right to vote. Nearly 30 years later, the US passed the 19th amendment granting women the right to vote 

1982 -  Scott Fahlman published the first recorded emoticons on the internet. The :-) and :-( found their way into his post on an internet bulletin board system at Carnegie Mellon University 

1990 -  Martin Scorsese's film Good Fellas was released, starring Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta and Joe Pesci

Some interesting birthdays include:

George Cadbury (1839) - his father John Cadbury founded the chocolate company, but George and his brother Robert brought the brand into prosperity 

William Lever (1851) - along with his brother James, they established the soap manufacturing company Lever Brothers

Lovie Austin (1887)

Elizabeth Stern (1915) - her research into cervical cancer led to early identification of the disease making it one of the most treatable types of cancers

Mama Cass Elliot (1941) - original member of the Mamas and Papas, it's a myth that she died from a ham sandwich 

Jimmy Fallon (1974)