Today In History: October 28

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NASSAU, BAHAMAS – On October 28th, 1636 – Harvard University, the oldest institute of higher learning in the United States, was founded by the great and general court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

A 1938 video shows Walt Disney and the Governor-General of Canada Sir John Buchan at a graduation ceremony where they received honorary degrees.

As of this year, Harvard is ranked #3 out of 443 national universities.

Also, on this day in 1886, the Statue of Liberty was dedicated by U.S. President Grover Cleveland.

The statute was a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States and was erected on Bedloe’s Island in upper New York Bay.

In 1914 American physician and medical researcher Jonas Salk, who developed the first safe and effective vaccine for polio, was born.

Then 41 years later in 1955, American computer programmer and entrepreneur Bill Gates-who co-founded Microsoft, the world’s largest personal-computer software company, was also born.

Also born on this day in 1967, American – actress Julia Roberts, whose deft performances in varied roles helped make her one of the highest-paid and most-influential actresses in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Then, in 2007 Argentine lawyer and politician Cristina Fernández de Kirshner became the first woman elected president of Argentina.

And finally, in 2009, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched Ares I-X rocket.

The flight test mission was to bring NASA one step closer to its exploration goals – to return to the moon for ambitious exploration of the lunar surface and then to travel to mars and destinations beyond.