1895 – Wilhelm Röntgen, a German mechanical engineer and physicist, published a paper detailing his discovery of a new type of radiation, which later will be known as x-rays. And we're still using them, 121 years later.

1952 - The first transistorized hearing aid was offered for sale by Sonotone Corporation on this day.

1968 –The crew of Apollo 8 entered into orbit around the Moon, becoming the first humans to do so. They performed ten lunar orbits and broadcast live TV pictures.

And this week in 1982 - The Man of the Year in "TIME" magazine was a non-human for the first time. A computer received the honors as 1982’s “greatest influence for good or evil.”