On this day in 1944, IBM dedicated the first program-controlled calculator, the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator.
On this day in 1959, the Lincoln Memorial design on the US penny went into circulation. It replaced the "sheaves of wheat" design, and was minted until 2008.
On this day in 1987, Lynne Cox became the first person to swim from the United States to the Soviet Union, crossing from Little Diomede Island in Alaska to Big Diomede in the Soviet Union
And this day in 2008 marked the start of the Russo-Georgian War over the territory of South Ossetia.