October 30

1867: U.S. Bureau of Standards scientist Louis Austin, who pioneered long-range radio broadcasts, was born. 1888: The first U.S. patent for a ballpoint pen was issued to John Loud of Weymouth, MA. 1894: Daniel Cooper of Rochester, N.Y., received the first U.S. patent for a punch card time clock. 1937: The closest approach to the earth by an asteroid, Hermes, was measured to be 485,000 miles. 1938: The radio play "The War of the Worlds," starring Orson Welles, aired on CBS. 1961: The Soviet Union detonated a 58 megaton hydrogen bomb over Novaya Zemlya, and is still the largest nuclear device to ever be detonated. 1979: Sir Barnes Wallis, inventor of the WWII, 9 kilopound "dambuster" bombs, died.