1889 – The first long-distance transmission of electricity took place, sending power from a hydroelectric generator at Willamette Falls 14 miles to 55 street lights at 4th and Main in Portland, Oregon.
http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMH4P_FIRST_High_Tension_Power_Line_Portland_Oregon
1948 – Ed Brown Jr., a former Navy pilot, opened a fly-in movie theater near Wall Township, New Jersey. You could also drive in. The theater had space for 500 cars and 25 small planes could land in a nearby airfield and taxi over to the theater.
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/8593
1965 – Gemini 4 launched on the first multi-day space mission by a NASA crew. Crew-member Ed White performed the first US spacewalk.
http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/history/gemini/gemini-iv/gemini-iv.html
Read Tom’s science fiction and other fiction books at Merritt’s Books site.