Events in history
Ships and drownings
- Feb 16th 1804, a successful raid into Tripoli Harbor to burn the US Navy frigate "Philadelphia," which had fallen into the hands of pirates. - Saturn/Tureis
- April 27th 1865, the steamer "Sultana" exploded on the Mississippi River near Memphis, Tennessee, killing more than 1400 Union prisoners of war. - NNode/Miaplacidus
- April tenth, 1912, the luxury liner RMS "Titanic" set sail from Southampton, England, on its ill-fated maiden voyage. - SNode/Foramen
- Mar 19th 1945, about 800 people were killed as Kamikaze planes attacked the US carrier "Franklin" off Japan; the ship, however, was saved. - Neptune/Tureis
- January 23rd, 1968, North Korea seized the US Navy ship "Pueblo," charging it had intruded into the communist nation's territorial waters on a spying mission. - Pluto/Avior
- Jan 14th 1969, 25 crew members of the US aircraft carrier "Enterprise" were killed in an explosion that ripped through the ship off Hawaii. - Pluto/Tureis
- May 12th 1975, the White House announced the new Cambodian government had seized an American merchant ship, the "Mayaguez," in international waters. - Saturn/Canopus
- April 18th 1978, the US Senate voted 68-to-32 to turn the Panama Canal over to Panamanian control on December 31st, 1999. - NNode/Tureis
- Jan 13th 1982, an Air Florida 737 crashed into Washington DC's 14th Street Bridge after takeoff and fell into the Potomac River, killing 78 people. - Saturn/Foramen
- Feb 15th 1982, 84 men were killed when a huge oil-drilling rig, the "Ocean Ranger," sank off the coast of Newfoundland during a fierce storm. - Saturn/Foramen
- Jan 14th 1993 Retreating from a campaign promise, President-elect Clinton said he would continue President Bush's policy of forcibly returning Haitian boat people to Haiti. - Mars/Canopus
Large edifices (tourist attractions?)
- Statue of Liberty dedicated, Oct 28th 1886 (welcoming ships) - Jupiter/Foramen
- May 1st 1931, New York's 102-story Empire State Building was dedicated. - Jupiter/Canopus
- May 6th 1889, the Paris Exposition
formally opened, featuring the just-completed Eiffel
Tower. - NNode/Canopus - April 12th 1606, England adopted as its flag the original version of the Union Jack. - NNode/Tureis
Currency and trade
- January 24th, 1848, James W. Marshall discovered a gold nugget at Sutter's Mill in northern California, a discovery that led to the gold rush of '49. - NNode/Tureis, Jupiter/Canopus
- April 2nd 1792, Congress passed the Coinage Act, which authorized establishment of the US Mint. NNode/Tureis, Jupiter and Neptune/Miaplacidus
- May 17th 1792, the New York Stock Exchange was founded by brokers meeting under a tree located on what is now Wall Street. NNode/Tureis
- May 2nd 1670, the Hudson Bay Company was chartered by England's King Charles the Second. - Jupiter/Canopus
- April 25th 1945, delegates from some 50 countries met in San Francisco to organize the United Nations. - Neptune/Tureis
Communications
- Feb 23rd 1927, President Coolidge signed a bill creating the Federal Radio Commission, forerunner of the Federal Communications Commission. - Pluto/Canopus
- April 7th 1927, an audience in New York saw an image of Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover in the first successful long-distance demonstration of television. - Pluto/Canopus
- May 4 1927, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was founded. - Pluto/Canopus
- Jan 1st 1984, the break-up of AT&T took place as the telecommunications giant was divested of its 22 Bell system companies under terms of an antitrust agreement. - Pluto /Miaplacidus
Exploring uncharted territories - Space
- April 25th 1983, the Pioneer Ten spacecraft crossed Pluto's orbit, speeding on its endless voyage through the Milky Way. - Saturn/Miaplacidus
- April 12th 1981, the space shuttle "Columbia" blasted off from Cape Canaveral on its first test flight. - Saturn/Tureis
- May 18th 1969, astronauts Eugene A. Cernan, Thomas P. Stafford and John W. Young blasted off aboard "Apollo Ten." - Pluto/Avior
- October 15 1997 at 4:43 EDT (8:43 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Cassini spacecraft was launched. It will arrive at Saturn in 2004 to begin studying the ringed planet and its moon Titan. - Sun and mercury/Foramen
- Sputnik I launched, Oct 4th 1957 - Uranus/Miaplacidus
- January 31st, 1958, the United States entered the Space Age with its first successful launch of a satellite into orbit, "Explorer One." - Jupiter /Miaplacidus
- April 25th 1983, the Pioneer Ten spacecraft crossed Pluto's orbit, speeding on its endless voyage through the Milky Way. - Saturn/Miaplacidus
- Mar 26th 1958, the US Army launched America's third successful satellite, "Explorer Three." - NNode /Miaplacidus
- Feb 19th 1473, the astronomer Copernicus was born in Torun, Poland. - Pluto/Avior
- Charles Lindbergh completes first solo nonstop flight across Atlantic, May 21 1927 - Pluto/Canopus