1797 – The first silk parachute jump from a high altitude was made by Andre-Jacques Garnerin, who dropped in a basket released from a balloon at 3,300 feet over a Paris park.
1836 – Gen. Sam Houston was sworn in as the first president of the Republic of Texas.
1962 – President John Kennedy announced that Soviet missiles had been deployed in Cuba and ordered a blockade of the island.
1966 – The Supremes became the first all-female group to score a No. 1 album, with “Supremes a Go-Go.”
1978 – Pope John Paul II was installed as pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.
