On this day in 1789, Paris residents seeking political reforms stormed the Bastille and formed a popularly elected city government, sparking the French revolution.
On this day in 1867, Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel demonstrated the use of dynamite for the first time.
On this day in 1930, BBC television transmitted its first play, "The Man With a Flower in his Mouth," written by Italian dramatist and novelist Luigi Pirandello.