Today:
1. 1579: The Union of Utrecht is signed, marking the foundation of the Dutch Republic.
2. 1849: Elizabeth Blackwell becomes the first woman in the United States to receive a medical degree.
3. 1957: American inventor Walter Frederick Morrison sells the rights to his flying disc design to the Wham-O toy company, which later releases it as the Frisbee.
4. 1986: The first inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame were announced, including Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, and Little Richard.
5. 2005: The Huygens probe, part of the Cassini–Huygens mission, successfully lands on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, and begins transmitting data back to Earth.