On this date in . . .

1827: A circus went over Niagara Falls. Bankrupt owners charged 8,000 people 50ΒΆ each to watch bears, tigers, buffaloes, monkeys, wagons, everything go over the falls.

1882: Thomas Edison flipped a switch to turn on 400 light bulbs in offices on Spruce, Wall, Nassau, and Pearl streets in New York's lower Manhattan, the world's first electric lighting. Edison had demonstrated his first incandescent lamp only three years earlier. 

1888: Kodak patented the world's first roll-film camera.

1952: Gladys Knight & the Pips were formed following the 10th birthday party for Bubba Knight. Gladys was eight and had already won "Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour," but since brother Bubba was older, he became the unofficial leader of the group.

1953: The New York Yankees became the first baseball team to win five consecutive American League championships.

1960: Larry Verne's "(Please) Mr. Custer, (I Don't Want to Go), debuted on the Billboard Hot 100. Verne had never sung before, but he worked across the hall from the song writing team. The spoof hit #1.

1962: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr recorded together for the first time at EMI's St. John's Wood Studio 2 in England. They rehearsed six numbers all day and recorded "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You" that evening. "Love Me Do" was right on the 17th take. "P.S. I Love You" would be re-recorded a week later with Andy White on drums and Ringo playing maracas.

1964: "Gilligan's Island" premiered on CBS-TV. The cast was stranded for three full seasons and 98 episodes. Bob Denver was Gilligan, Alan Hale Jr. played the Skipper. A Saturday cartoon version lasted three more seasons on ABC.

1968: The Rolling Stones' single "Street Fighting Man" was banned in Chicago for fear it might incite rioting.

1972: U.S. swimmer Mark Spitz became the first athlete to win seven Olympic gold medals.

1973: Singer Charlie Rich was awarded a gold record for "Behind Closed Doors."

1982: 8,659 British dancers formed history's longest conga line near London.

1986: After just getting his license back after a five-year suspension, rocker Greg Allman was arrested in Florida for drunk driving.

1991: Singer Dottie West died from injuries suffered in an auto crash after catching a ride with a stranger when her car had stalled. Her biggest hits: "Here Comes My Baby" and "Country Sunshine."

1993: New York Yankee Jim Abbott pitched a no-hitter against Cleveland and won 4-0. Abbott was born without a right hand.

2002: Texas cocktail waitress and aspiring pop star Kelly Clarkson was voted the first "American Idol" on the Fox TV series.

2002: A new Viennese ensemble debuted playing instruments made from vegetables. The Vienna Vegetable Orchestra played classical and jazz pieces on carved-out carrots, cucumbers, green peppers, and pumpkins. They came up with the idea after studying the sounds of vegetables being chopped.

2002: Singer Kelly Clarkson was voted the first "American Idol" on the Fox TV series.

2005: New Orleans completed evacuation of Hurricane Katrina survivors from the Superdome and convention center -- 42,000 in one day. There still were 2,000 at the airport and another 1,000 trapped in attics of flooded buildings.