At Auburn Prison in New York, the first execution by electrocution
in history is carried out against William Kemmler, who had been convicted of murdering his lover, Matilda Ziegler, with an axe.

Electrocution as a humane means of execution was first suggested
in 1881 by Dr. Albert Southwick, a dentist.

DAILY EVENING EXPOSITOR, Fresno, California, Aug. 6, 1890.

 
Alfred Porter Southwick
(May 18, 1826–June 11, 1898)

From the Atlantic Missile Range in Cape Canaveral, Florida,
the U.S. unmanned spacecraft Explorer 6 atop a Thor-Able
rocket was launched into an orbit around the earth.

The spacecraft, commonly known  as the “Paddlewheel”
satellite, featured a photocell scanner that transmitted a
crude picture of the earth’s surface and cloud cover from
a distance of 17,000 miles. The photo, received in Hawaii,
took nearly 40 minutes to transmit.

The first satellite image of Earth captured by Explorer 6 on August 14, 1959.