Vincent John Ott (died 1979)

In 1822, on July 3rd, Charles Babbage published a proposal for a forerunner of the modern computer. Called a "difference engine", it calculated logarithms and trigonometric functions. Babbage wanted to eliminate the errors that occurred through the use of human "calculators" by creating a machine to do the same work. While a prototype was begun, it was never completed.

In 1878, in Africa, the death of the last confirmed Cape lion occurred. The Cape lion was slightly larger than other lions and had black ears, a black mane, and black hair on its belly.

In 1902, the modern air conditioner was invented by Willis H. Carrier. The company that he worked for needed to find a way to control humidity and by solving this problem, Carrier created a system that could be used for cooling the rooms of a house. The Sun Belt thanks him!

In 1927, 10 years after the United States bought the U.S. Virgin Islands from the Danish government, the inhabitants were granted U.S. citizenship. While they can vote in congressional elections and presidential primaries, they cannot vote for President.

In 1979, in the year of Vincent John Ott's passing, on November 4th, Iranian militant students seized the US embassy in Teheran and held 52 American citizens and diplomats hostage for 444 days. They were released at the end of the inauguration speech of the newly elected Ronald Reagan.