On This Date... In 1987, the Soviet Union launched the Polyus prototype orbital weapons platform, which failed to reach orbit. In 1963, the final Mercury mission was launched, with astronaut L. Gordon Cooper--who became the first American to spend more than a day in space. In 1941, Baseball player Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees started his record-breaking 56-game hitting streak. In 1940, McDonald's opened its first restaurant in San Bernardino, California. In 1928, Mickey Mouse premiered in his first cartoon, "Plane Crazy." In 1905, Las Vegas, Nevada was founded when 110 acres, in what later would become downtown, were auctioned off. In 1869, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton formed the National Woman's Suffrage Association. Happy Birthday Jamie-Lynn Sigler (1981), Ray Lewis (1975), John Smoltz (1967), George Brett (1953), Chazz Palminteri (1952), James Mason (1909-1984), Mikhail Bulgakov (1891