2016 – Proxima Centauri b, the closest exoplanet to Earth, is discovered by the European Southern Observatory.

 kurtster wrote:

It's too bad Al didn't pull out in time.

Al Gore invented the internet. That's why we use the word algorithm.

 kurtster wrote:
How far back do your erroneous conspiracies go?

 Red_Dragon wrote: 
With special thanks to the inventor, Al Gore, of course.

On this day in history, August 24, 1932, Amelia Earhart becomes first woman to fly solo coast-to-coast

1991 – The World Wide Web is opened to the public.

On this day in history, August 23, 1973, a bank robbery in Sweden leads to 'Stockholm syndrome'

2007 – The Texas Rangers defeat the Baltimore Orioles 30–3, the most runs scored by a team in modern Major League Baseball history.

On this day in history, August 22, 1776, the British invade Brooklyn by sea

1957 – The Soviet Union successfully conducts a long-range test flight of the R-7 Semyorka, the first intercontinental ballistic missile.

On this day in history, August 21, 1959, Hawaii becomes the 50th state: 'A stronger nation'

1977 – Voyager program: NASA launches the Voyager 2 spacecraft.

1858 – Charles Darwin first publishes his theory of evolution through natural selection in The Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London, alongside Alfred Russel Wallace's same theory.

On this day in history, August 20, 2017, legendary comedian Jerry Lewis dies at 91

1934 – The German referendum of 1934 approves Adolf Hitler's appointment as head of state with the title of Führer.

On this day in history, August 19, 1812, Old Ironsides legend born in smashing victory over Royal Navy

2019 – One hundred activists, officials, and other concerned citizens in Iceland hold a funeral for Okjökull glacier, which has completely melted after having once covered six square miles (15.5 km2).

1977 – Steve Biko is arrested at a police roadblock under Terrorism Act No. 83 of 1967 in King William's Town, South Africa. He later dies from injuries sustained during this arrest, bringing attention to South Africa's apartheid policies.

1958 – Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel Lolita is published in the United States.