On August 11, 1942, actress Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil received a patent for a Frequency-hopping spread spectrum communication system that later became the basis for modern technologies in wireless telephones and Wi-Fi.
On this day in 1972, the last United States ground combat unit left South Vietnam.
On this day in 1982, a bomb exploded on Pan Am Flight 830, en route from Tokyo to Honolulu, killing one passenger and injuring 15 others.
On this day in 2003, NATO took over command of the peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, marking its first major operation outside Europe in its 54-year-history.