First televised U.S. presidential debate

The first in a series of historic televised debates (seen by some 85 to 120 million viewers) between U.S. presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Vice President Richard M. Nixon was broadcast this day in 1960. 

Stanislav Petrov, a Soviet military officer, decided that a computer warning about a U.S. missile strike on the Soviet Union was a false alarm. He was correct, and he was later credited with avoiding an outbreak of nuclear war. 1983. 

The Beatles released Abbey Road, their last-recorded album (Let It Be, though mostly recorded earlier than Abbey Road, was released in 1970). 1969.

Typhoon Vera struck the Ise Bay region on the southern coast of Honshu, the largest of Japan‘s four main islands. More than 5,000 people died, almost 39,000 were injured, and 1.5 million were left homeless.1959.

After nearly three years at sea, English Admiral Francis Drake arrived in Plymouth Harbour, England, completing his circumnavigation of the world. 1580

Serena Williams (born September 26, 1981, Saginaw, Michigan, U.S.) is an American tennis player who revolutionized women’s tennis with her powerful style of play and who won more Grand Slam singles titles (23) than any other woman or man during the open era.