1942 Stephen Hawking, English physicist and mathematician, was born 1889 US inventor Herman Hollerith patented his tabulator, the first device for data processing his firm would later become one of IBM's founding companies 1642 Galileo Galilei, Italian astronomer, died 1825 Eli Whitney, US inventor of the cotton gin, died 1886 The Severn Railway Tunnel - Britain's longest - was opened
