A team of scientists working with the Tauros Programme are trying to bring the extinct Aurochs back to Europe. The Aurochs was an ancient bovine breed that stood about 7 feet tall at the shoulder, 2 feet taller than their modern descendants, and were last seen in Europe in the 17th Century.
30 June
The first leap second is added to the UTC time system on this day in 1972. Continue reading “1972 – The leap second”
15 June
Mount Pinatubo, in the Philippines, explodes in the second largest volcanic eruption of the 20th Century.
26 April
The Chernobyl disaster was a catastrophic nuclear accident that occurred on this day in 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the city of Pripyat, then located in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic of the Soviet Union. Continue reading “1986 – The Chernobyl nuclear disaster”
21 April
For the first time, optical fibre is used to carry live telephone traffic. Continue reading “1977 – Optical fibre”
22 April
The 1st Air Commando Group using Sikorsky R-4 helicopters stage the first use of helicopters in combat with combat search and rescue operations in the China Burma India Theater. Continue reading “1944 – the first use of helicopters in combat”
April
USS Thresher (SSN-593) was the lead boat of her class of nuclear-powered attack submarines in the United States Navy. She was lost with all hands during deep-diving tests on 10 April 1963.
Continue reading “1963 – Submarine USS Thresher lost at sea”
7 April
2001 Mars Odyssey is a robotic spacecraft orbiting the planet Mars. The project was developed by NASA, and contracted out to Lockheed Martin, with an expected cost for the entire mission of US$297 million. Its mission is to use spectrometers and a thermal imager to detect evidence of past or present water and ice, as well as study the planet’s geology and radiation environment. Continue reading “2001 – Mars Odyssey is launched”
5-6 April
The 1936 Tupelo–Gainesville tornado outbreak was an outbreak of at least 12 tornadoes that struck the Southeastern United States from April 5–6, 1936. Continue reading “1936 – Tupelo–Gainesville tornado outbreak”
4 April
Apollo 6, launched on this day in 1968, was the second A type mission of the United States Apollo program, an unmanned test of the Saturn V launch vehicle. It was also the final unmanned Apollo test mission. Continue reading “1968 – NASA launches Apollo 6”
3 April
The Osborne 1 was the first commercially successful portable microcomputer, released on this day in 1981 by Osborne Computer Corporation. Continue reading “1981 – The Osborne 1 is unveiled”
22 March
Comet Hale–Bopp was perhaps the most widely observed comet of the 20th century and one of the brightest seen for many decades. It was visible to the naked eye for a record 18 months, twice as long as the previous record holder, the Great Comet of 1811. Continue reading “1997 – The Comet Hale–Bopp has its closest approach to Earth”
19 March
GRB 080319B was a gamma-ray burst (GRB) detected by the Swift satellite at 06:12 UTC on this day in 2008. The burst set a new record for the farthest object that was observable with the naked eye: it had a peak visual apparent magnitude of 5.8 and remained visible to human eyes for approximately 30 seconds. The magnitude was brighter than 9.0 for approximately 60 seconds. Continue reading “2008 – GRB 080319B: A cosmic burst that is the farthest object visible to the naked eye is briefly observed”
16 March
The V-2 (Vergeltungswaffe 2, “Retribution Weapon 2”), technical name Aggregat-4 (A-4), was the world’s first long-range guided ballistic missile. The missile with a liquid-propellant rocket engine was developed during the Second World War in Germany as a “vengeance weapon,” designed to attack Allied cities as retaliation for the Allied bombings against German cities. The V-2 rocket also became the first artificial object to cross the boundary of space with the vertical launch of V-177 on 20 June 1944. Continue reading “1942 – The first V-2 rocket test launch”
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