This day in history

Some notable historical events that happened today include:

1810 -  Peter Durand received the first patent for preserving food in tin cans. The merchant later sold English patent No. 3372 to Bryan Donkin and John Hall

1840 -  Joseph Gibbons patented a grain drill that regulates the amount of seeds sown in a single row

1875 -  Captain Matthew Web swam across the English Channel unassisted. It's the first swim recorded across the Channel from England to France 

1894 -  the bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin identified the organism responsible for the bubonic Plague

1908 -  52 graduates of nursing, led by Martha Franklin, organized the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses

1916 -  Congress established the National Park Service 

1919 -  the first International passenger air service began operating between London and Paris

1920 -  Ethelda Bleibtrey became the first woman to win gold in swimming at the Antwerp Olympics 

1932 -  Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the North American continent solo

1958 -  Chikin Ramen became the first instant noodles on the market. Momofuku Ando perfected the process and Nissin Foods sold it

1968 -  Arthur Ashe earned the men's tennis singles championship, becoming the first African American to win the US Open

1980 -  GE registered copyright for the jingle "We Bring Good Things To Life"

2006 -  the world's tallest living tree was discovered. Named Hyperion, the redwood discovered by Michael Taylor and Chris Atkins grows in Redwood National and State Parks

2012 -  NASA's Voyager 1 entered interstellar space, making it the first spacecraft to venture beyond the power of the solar winds

Some interesting birthdays include:

Allan Pinkerton (1818) - founder of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency 

Joshua L. Cowen (1877) - co-founded the Lionel Corporation and developed the first Lionel model train for the company

Mary Bruce (1900) - founder of the Mary Bruce Dance School in Harlem, she taught Gregory Hines, Ruby Dee and Katharine Dunham

Mollie Panter-Downes (1906) - English author of The Shoreless Sea and One Fine Day

Dorothea Tanning (1910)

Arnold Neustadter (1910) - inventor of the Rolodex

Walt Kelly (1913) - created the comic strip Pogo, he also worked for Walt Disney Studios 

Monty Hall (1921) - original host of Let's Make a Deal 

Sean Connery (1930) - I'm a big fan. I'm in the camp of those who say he's the best James Bond. Did you know that in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade the line "she talks in her sleep" was ad-libed by him?

Regis Philbin (1931) - I'm a fan of him too.

Gene Simmons (1949)

Tim Burton (1958)

Ian Falconer (1959)

Rachael Ray (1968)

Jo Dee Messina (1970)