1900: Wiley Post, who made the first round-the-world solo flight (15,596 miles) in his Lockheed Vega 5B single-engine aircraft, was born. 1902: U.S. Army pathologist Walter Reed, after whom the Walter Reed Hospital is named, died. 1904: The first direct current, variable speed, interpole electric motor was patented by Mathias Pfatischer. 1907: American astronomer Asaph Hall, who discovered named the two moons of Mars Phobos and Deimos, died. 1909: Wilbur and Orville Wright formed the Wright Company, which would become a million-dollar corporation for the commercial manufacture of airplanes. 1927: The first U.S. patent for a snowmobile "vehicle for snow travel" was issued to Carl Eliason. 1944: English astrophysicist Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington died. 1963: President J.F. Kennedy was fatally shot in Dallas, TX. 1972: The U.S. ended a 22-year travel ban to China. 1988: The B-2 Spirit stealth bomber was first revealed to the public. 1990: Margaret Thatcher announced her resignation as British Prime Minister. 2005: Angela Merkel became the first female Chancellor of Germany.