Nasa SpaceLink:
KEY DATES NOVEMBER 1991
November 1991 Key Dates
Nov 1 Chiron, farthest known asteroid, discovered (1977).
Fusion occurred for the first time on Earth (1952).
National Weather Service founded (1870).
2 H. Hughes' "Spruce Goose" made first and only flight
(1947). Harlow Shapley, astronomer, born (1885).
3 Alabama woman bruised by a meteor (1955). Great panic
in Europe over close approach of a comet (1679).
Sputnik 2 launched with a dog on board (1957).
4 David Todd of the U.S. Navel Observatory conducts
first search for a planet beyond Neptune (1877).
5 First photograph showing one full side of the Earth
(1967). An iceberg twice the size of Rhode Island is
sighted in the Antarctic (1987).
6 Supernova observed in Cassiopeia (1572). John Alcock,
pioneer aviator, born (1892). Wolfgang Schuler observes
a nova (1572). Next transit of Mercury (1993). Full
Earth.
7 First observance of a transit of Mercury (1631). Marie
Curie, discoverer of Ra (radium), born (1867).
"Galloping Gertie". the Tacoma Narrows bridge,
collapses (1940).
8 Edmond Halley born (1656). First mom in space
(Anna Fisher, 1984).
9 Benjamin Banneker born (1731). First airplane flight
to last more than 5 min (1904). Northeast blackout
triggered by a thunderstorm (1965). Apollo 4, first
test of Saturn 5 unmanned rocket (1967). America's
longest drought (767 days) ends in Bagdad, CA (1914).
10 The Edmund Fitzgerald sank (1975). Transit of Earth
as seen from Mars (2084). Plan ahead.
11 Explorer 2 balloon set altitude record of 72,000 ft
over SD; made first photograph showing curvature of
Earth (1935). Blizzard struck midwest (1940). Before
it was done, 154 lives were lost, 69 aboard ships in
Lake Michigan alone. How has weather forecasting
changed since then?
12 Voyager 1 closest to Saturn (1980). In 57 days,
James Lloyd recreated Calbraith Rogers' 1911 flight
(1986). First movie stunt-man jumps from an exploding
balloon into the Hudson River (1912).
13 First manmade object to orbit another planet. (Mariner
9, Mars, 1971). James Maxwell born (1831). What was he
known for? First manmade snow from a cloud (1946).
14 Charles Lyell, geologist, born (1797). Apollo 12 hit by
lightning upon takeoff (1969). Nasa Teacher Resource
Center opens in Australia (1988). First time a comet
is discovered via telescope (1680).
15 William Herschel born (1738). Today's 8th graders are
half done with their formal education.
16 Last visit to Skylab (1973). First international
interstellar radio message sent by Arecibo Observatory
(1974). Collapse of radar telescope in West Virginia
(1988). Oldest, verified account of a meteorite
(Switzerland, 1492).
17 Leonids meteor shower peak. In 1966, 150,000 meteors
per hour were observed. Surveyor 6 flies 8 ft, first
liftoff from the surface of the Moon. (1967) First
commercial rocket launched (1988).
18 Adoption of the uniform time zone plan (1883). Alan
Shepard's birthday. New England rocked by earthquake
(1755). Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) launched
(1989).
19 Apollo 12 landed on the Moon (1969). The 200-in.
mirror arrived at Mt. Palomar (1947).
20 First time an airplane exceeded 1300 mph (Scott
Crossfield, 1953). Edwin Hubble born (1889). Otto
von Guericke born (1602). First person to invent
nothing-the vacuum!
21 First human flight in a balloon (1783). First
commercial crossing of the Pacific by plane, the
China Clipper (1935). First flight of the Concorde-
London to New York (1977). Full Moon.
22 It is illegal to remove icicles from a structure
by discharging a firearm in Woonsocket, RI. SOS
adopted as the international distress code (1911).
23 Self-Awareness Day. Time to assess what you are Tiros
II, weather satellite, launched (1960).
24 Apollo 12 splashdown (1969). First observation of a
transit of Vensus (1639). Only two people reported
they saw it.
25 First Soviet liquid-fueled rocket flew 240 ft (1933).
Viking radio signal from Mars helps test theory of
relativity (1976).
26 France became the third nation to enter the Space Age
(1965).
27 Earliest meteor photo taken (1885). Anders Celsius,
Swedish astronomer and chemist, born (1701).
28 Richard Byrd began flight over the SOuth Pole (1929).
Huygens records first markings on Mars (1659).
29 Christian Doppler, Austrian physicist, born (1803).
Enos the chimp becomes the first American to orbit the
Earth (1961). Veranique Le Guen ends 110-day cave
study (1988).
30 Predict the Future Day. Take a guess at the year 2001,
when today's 6th graders will graduate from college.