In 1831, naturalist Charles Darwin set out on a voyage to the Pacific aboard the HMS Beagle. (Darwin's discoveries during the trip helped to form the basis of his theories on natural selection and evolution.)
1932: Radio City Music Hall opened in New York.
1968: Apollo 8 and its three astronauts made a safe, nighttime splashdown in the Pacific.
1999: Space shuttle Discovery and its seven-member crew returned to Earth after fixing the Hubble Space Telescope.