October 28

FEATURED BIOGRAPHY John Locke English philosopher READ MORE   FEATURED EVENT 1886 Statue of Liberty dedicated READ MORE

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MORE EVENTS ON THIS DAY

2007: Argentine lawyer and politician Cristina Fernández de Kirchnerbecame the first woman elected president of Argentina. [Test your knowledge of famous firsts for women.]

1967: American actress Julia Roberts, whose deft performances in varied roles helped make her one of the highest-paid and most-influential actresses in the 1990s and early 2000s, was born. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about A-list actors.]

1955: American computer programmer and entrepreneur Bill Gates—who cofounded Microsoft, the world's largest personal-computer software company—was born. [Take our computer technology quiz.]

1914: American physician and medical researcher Jonas Salk, who developed the first safe and effective vaccine for polio, was born. [Take our quiz about human health.]

1726: Anglo-Irish author Jonathan Swift anonymously published Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World (later called Gulliver's Travels), a keystone of English literature that helped give birth to the novel form. [Take our quiz about literary classics.]

1971: Great Britain launched Prospero, its first Earth satellite. [Take our quiz about objects in space.]

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ALSO BORN ON THIS DAY

1955 Bill Gates American computer programmer, businessman, and philanthropist

1949 Caitlyn Jenner American athlete

1967 Julia Roberts American actress

1956 Mahmoud Ahmadinejad president of Iran

1909 Francis Bacon British painter

1914 Jonas Salk American physician and medical researcher

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