Today in History, May 14: Smallpox, Lewis and Clark, Skylab

1796—British physician Edward Jenner discovers the smallpox vaccine. He coins the word vaccination to describe injecting a healthy person with a milder form of a disease to allow the body to develop immunity.

1804—Capt. Meriwether Lewis and Lt. William Clark leave St. Louis and begin their expedition west.

1897—The first public performance of John Philip Sousa's "The Stars and Stripes Forever" is given in Philadelphia. The song accompanies the unveiling of a statue of George Washington.

1948—Israel declares itself an independent state and open to Jewish immigration.

1973—Skylab, America's first experimental space station, is launched.