Space Shuttle Discovery completes its final mission
The final mission was to deliver supplies to the International Space Station and install an experiment platform. The mission was also notable for the inclusion of astronaut Stephen Bowen, who became the first Canadian to complete three spaceflights.
The deadliest cable car accident in history occurs in Italy
A cable car carrying skiers up a mountain in the Italian Alps broke, sending the car hurtling to the ground and killing 43 people. It’s still the deadliest cable car accident in history. The incident occurred when the car’s emergency brakes failed and the supporting cable snapped.
Ivan Ivanovich, a human dummy, travels into space
A dummy named Ivan Ivanovich was launched into space. He was a Soviet space program mannequin that was used to test the human-rated Vostok space capsule. Ivanovich was outfitted with sensors that monitored his vital signs, and he was also equipped with a camera to record his journey.
The electron microscope is invented
The transmission electron microscope (TEM), which was invented in 1931 by German engineers Ernst Ruska and Max Knoll. The TEM was an improvement on the light microscope, which used visible light to illuminate and magnify objects.
- 1964 Juliette Binoche
French actress, dancer - 1943 Bobby Fischer
American chess player - 1934 Yuri Gagarin
Russian pilot, astronaut - 1915 Johnnie Johnson
English pilot - 1890 Vyacheslav Molotov
Soviet politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs fr the Soviet Union
- 1997 The Notorious B.I.G.
American rapper - 1996 George Burns
American actor - 1994 Charles Bukowski
American poet - 1992 Menachem Begin
Israeli politician, 6th Prime Minister of Israel, Nobel Prize laureate - 1825 Anna Laetitia Barbauld
English poet, author, critic
