Also Within this year in history
In 1911, a historic heatwave killed hundreds, possibly thousands, in the Northeastern U.S., while in New York City, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire took the lives of more than 140 trapped immigrant workers. Norwegian Roald Amundsen became the first explorer to reach the South Pole, the Titanic was launched in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and future president Ronald Reagan was born in Tampico, Illinois.
Fire hoses spray water on the upper floors of the Asch Building (housing the Triangle Shirtwaist Company) on Washington and Greene Streets, during the fire in New York City, March 25, 1911. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
Ruins of Inca city on Machu Picchu. | Location: Urubamba Province, Peru. (Photo by Jacques Haillot/Sygma via Getty Images)
A portrait of actress Lucille Ball circa 1950's. (Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images)
In a This Day in History video, host Russ Mitchell takes us through the history of August 20th. On this day in 1953, the Soviet Union publically admitted it had tested a hydrogen bomb. On this day in 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed a $1 billion anti-poverty bill. On this day in 1980, Reinhold Messner became the first solo climber to scale Mt. Everest. Also on this day in 1911, the New York Times sent a commercial cablegram around the world in 16 and a half minutes. And also on this day in 1977, Voyager II carried a message into space.
UNSPECIFIED - CIRCA 1754: Mona Lisa' also called 'La Gioconda' or 'La Joconde', c1503-1506. Oil on wood. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). Portrait of Lisa Gheradini, the wife of Francesco del Gioconda a Florentine silk merchant. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)
1911: Norwegian explorer Captain Roald Amundsen, the first man to reach the South Pole, inspecting ice fields near a glacier in the Atlantic Ocean. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
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