Thor Heyerdahl and five of his buddies set sail on a balsa wood raft. It was the beginning of a 101-day voyage from Peru to Polynesia.

A patent was filed on this day that ushered in the dawn of junk mail.

A mysterious satellite hacker interrupted HBO's showing of The Falcon and the Snowman with an onscreen protest.

Today was the day the Portuguese explorer, Ferdinand Magellan, died at the Battle of Mactan.

Over 3000 fragments were gathered by the townspeople and the study of these mysterious rocks became a pivotal moment in the understanding of meteorites. 

The singer was standing next to his $50,000 Porsche when a gunman demanded the keys.

16-year-old Michael Andrew Clark climbed to the top of a hill overlooking Highway 101 outside Orcutt, California. When the sun came up he began shooting at cars.

In the thick of the Cold War, Soviet leader Yuri Andropov invited a 10-year-old American girl named Samantha Smith to visit the Soviet Union.

Triggered by a 7.4 magnitude earthquake in the ocean, a 279-foot wall of water slammed into Ishigaki Island.

The controversial veterinarian and researcher who brought Snuppy to life has since founded a company that clones dogs for about $100,000 a pop.

His grainy footage of what might be the Loch Ness Monster ranks up there with the Zapruder film as one of the most analyzed scenes of all time.

In 1961, Judy Garland returned from a critically acclaimed European tour with a new lease on life. When she took to the stage at Carnegie Hall she looked great and sounded even better.

At 10:00 in the morning, residents of Guadalajara, Mexico noticed a manhole cover was bouncing up and down as white smoke puffed out of the sewer.

Moreschi quickly made a name for himself with his angelic voice and he was often asked to perform at private parties for Rome's most powerful families.

Marathon watchers were shocked when Rosie Ruiz came out of nowhere to finish the race in record time (2:31:56).

A photograph of the attack was kept under wraps until after President Carter left office, but now it's one of the most requested items from the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library.

The last of the wild California Condors was captured in a desperate attempt to save the species from extinction. At the time of his capture there were only 27 of the birds left.

"Good evening. Today is Good Friday. There is no news."

In 1897, residents in the small Texas town watched a UFO glide over the square and collide with a windmill.