"Huckleberry Finn" is first published, the first Nobel Prizes are awarded, the first transcontinental flight ends, Playboy debuts, and "Avatar" premieres in theaters, all on this day.
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Public domain
1978: Filmmaker Edward D. Wood Jr., known for his low-budget films in the 1950s, including "Glen or Glenda" and "Plan 9 from Outer Space," dies of a heart attack at the age of 54 in Los Angeles.