Douglas Adam’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Hits the Bookstores. The first in a “trilogy of five”, the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, or H2G2, is a popular comedy science fiction novel that was first created as a radio show in 1978 for BBC Radio 4. The show and the book follow the intergalactic adventures of Arthur Dent, who escapes the Earth’s destruction. He is accompanied by several other characters including an alien called Ford Prefect, Marvin the depressed robot, and the Vogons who are responsible for destroying the Earth.

Equatorial Guinea Gains Independence. The African republic was part of the Spanish Empire since the late 1700s. Known as Spanish Guinea, the country became independent and changed its name to Equatorial Guinea under the leadership of President Francisco Macías Nguema. In 1972, Nguema proclaimed himself president for life.

First Multi Person Space Flight. Soviet spacecraft Voskhod 1 carried 3 cosmonauts for the first time to space. It was also the first time the crew did not wear any space suits for the duration of the flight.

Nikita Khrushchev's Famous Shoe Pounding Incident. The First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union removed his shoe and pounded it on the table during a UN General Assembly meeting in New York. The incident was thought to be a response to comments about freedoms in Eastern Europe made by the Filipino delegate, Lorenzo Sumulong.

Christopher Columbus Steps Foot on the New World. Two months after he had set sail from Spain with crews on 3 ships – the Santa María, the Pinta, and the Santa Clara, Columbus spotted land that he believed was Japan. He had, in fact, stepped foot on what is now the Bahamas. Claiming that he was the first one to set sight on the lands, he declared the lands as being owned by the Spanish empire.