Ronald Wilson Reagan, future Hollywood actor and 40th President of the United States, was born in Tampico, Illinois.

Herman Hollerith's punch-card tabulating firm merged with other companies to form CTR, the corporate ancestor of IBM.

American explorer Hiram Bingham was guided to the overgrown Inca citadel of Machu Picchu by local farmers, introducing the ruins to the wider world.

Yale explorer Hiram Bingham was guided to the overgrown Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, bringing the lost city to international attention.

American explorer Hiram Bingham was guided to the ruins of Machu Picchu high in the Peruvian Andes, bringing the lost Incan city to global attention.

Thief Vincenzo Peruggia slipped the Mona Lisa off the wall of the Louvre before opening hours, triggering one of art history's greatest manhunts.

China's revolutionary assembly elected Sun Yat-sen provisional president, though the actual vote occurred in late December 1911; instead, on this date Wuchang's revolutionary momentum spread as more provinces declared independence from the Qing.

Revolutionary soldiers mutinied in Wuchang, China, sparking the uprising that toppled the Qing dynasty and ended over two millennia of imperial rule.

Roald Amundsen and four companions became the first humans to reach the South Pole, beating Robert Falcon Scott's doomed expedition by 34 days.