English engineer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ambrose_Fleming" id="mwhg" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="John Ambrose Fleming">John Ambrose Fleming</a> receives a patent for the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_tube" id="mwhw" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Vacuum tube">thermionic valve</a> (vacuum tube).