1805 Lewis and Clarke Expedition sights the Pacific Ocean for the first time at the mouth of the Columbia River 1918 The 1918 influenza epidemic spread to Western Samoa eventually killing 20% of the population by the end of the year

1860 Republican Abraham Lincoln of Illinois was elected the 16th President of the United States of America 1918 the Republicans of Poland is proclaimed

1500 Astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus observed a lunar eclipse in Rome Italy 1937 Adolf Hitler informed his military leaders in a secret meeting of his intentions to go to war leading to the beginning of World War 2

1841 the first wagon train with settlers arrived in California USA 2008 Barack Obama became the first African American to be elected as President of the United States

1534 English parliament passed the Act of Supremacy making Henry VIII and all Monarchs after him the Head of the Church of England 1957 The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 2 carrying the dog Laika a Siberian Husky to be the first animal to go to space

1936 the BBC began its first high-definition TV broadcast service from a specially constructed studio in North London 1949 The Netherlands released its colony to be an independent sovereign state