On this day in 1937, Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan were last heard from over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to make the first equatorial round-the-world flight.
On this day in 1950, the Golden Pavilion at Kinkaku-ji in Kyoto, Japan burned down.
On this day in 1964, US President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 meant to prohibit segregation in public places.
On this day in 1976, Communist North Vietnam declared a union with South Vietnam to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
On this day in 2001, the AbioCor self-contained artificial heart was first implanted.