The first known performance of William Shakespeare’s tragedy “King Lear” was before the court of King James I at Whitehall, London on this day in 1606.

Did you know that:

• Charles Babbage, English inventor of the calculating machine, was born on this day in 1792
• James H. Mason patented the first US coffee percolator on this day in 1865
• Edwin Armstrong was granted a patent for a two-path FM radio on this day in 1933