Astronaut, author, professional football player, and STEM educator Leland Melvin was born #OTD in 1964.
Here he is in the greatest photo ever produced by the US space program.
Image: NASA
On this day in 1990, the Voyager 1 space probe took a photo of our planet from approximately 6 billion kilometers (3.7 billion miles) away.
"Commissioned by NASA and resulting from the advocacy of astronomer and author Carl Sagan, the photograph was interpreted in Sagan's 1994 book, Pale Blue Dot, as representing humanity's minuscule and ephemeral place amidst the cosmos."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pale_Blu…
Image via bbc.com/news/science-environme…
#OnThisDay #OTD #history #space #science #nasa #PaleBlueDot #humanity
The US space agency reprocesses the Voyager probe's iconic "Pale Blue Dot" picture of Planet Earth.By Jonathan Amos (BBC News)
#OnThisDay, 8 Apr 1959, Mary K Hawes initiates a project to create the first universal programming language for computers used by businesses and government. Grace Hopper led the team that then created COBOL. Some mainframes are still using it.
#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #WomenInSTEM #Histodons
Margaret Dayhoff, bioinformatics pioneer and creator of protein and nucleic acid databases, was born #OTD in 1925. She also produced the one-letter codes for amino acids that are still used today.
Download this graphic here: compoundchem.com/2014/09/16/am…
The proteins that make up living organisms are huge molecules, but they’re composed of tinier building blocks, known as amino acids. There are over 500 amino acids found in nature, yet, of th…Compound Interest
Running, Running🏃
Released 43 years ago today
Wild in the Streets, the second studio album by American hardcore punk band Circle Jerks, featuring the eponymous opening track
CIRCLE JERKS - WILD IN THE STREETS OFFICIAL VIDEO
#punk #punks #punkrock #punkrockhistory #otd
#OnThisDay, 24 Feb 1968, Jocelyn Bell Burnell - along with her male supervisor and three other men - published a paper confirming the discovery of pulsars. She had built the array, picked up the signal and argued it was not an anomaly. Hewish received the Nobel prize for it in 1974: Bell Burnell did not.
In 2018 Bell Burnell received a £3m prize for her work. She's used it to set up a foundation to improve the diversity in STEM.
#OTD in 1930.
While studying photographs taken in January, Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto, making it by far the first known object in the Kuiper belt. It was immediately hailed as the ninth planet.
However, its planetary status was questioned when it was found to be much smaller than expected. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) formally redefined the term planet to exclude dwarf planets such as Pluto.
Ah, not a comic book buff myself, but will celebrate that on this day in 1940, the first issue of Captain America Comics was published, with this iconic cover.
"When the first issue came out we got a lot of ... threatening letters and hate mail. Some people really opposed what Cap stood for."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_…
#CaptainAmerica #CaptainAmericaComics #comics #marvel #nazis #PunchNazis #OnThisDay #OTD
#OTD in 1726.
The novel Gulliver's Travels written by Jonathan Swift satirising both human nature and the "travellers' tales" literary subgenre is published. Swift claimed that he wrote it "to vex the world rather than divert it".
Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by volunteers.Project Gutenberg
"Maps are to geography what notation is to music."
British writer, geographer, historian, journalist, cartographer, and inventor John Francon Williams died #OTD in 1911.
In 1881, Williams's seminal book The Geography of the Oceans was published. This book focuses on topics such as: General Geography of the Oceans, Physical Geography of the Oceans, the Geography of Particular Oceans. It was the first book to cover with such intensity the geography of the oceans.
#OTD in 1911.
Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre by museum employee Vincenzo Peruggia and was not recovered until two years later.
The theft and subsequent recovery in 1913 led to the publication of many cultural depictions such as the 1915 opera Mona Lisa, two early 1930s films (The Theft of the Mona Lisa and Arsène Lupin) and the song "Mona Lisa" recorded by Nat King Cole—one of the most successful songs of the 1950s.
Serbian inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, and futurist Nikola Tesla was born #OTD in 1856.
Some of Tesla´s inventions and innovations: alternating Current (AC) system; induction motor; Tesla coil; wireless transmission of electricity; radio technology; remote control; neon and fluorescent lighting; X-Ray technology; Tesla turbine; oscillators and frequency generators.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_T…
Books by Nikola Tesla at PG:
gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/50…
Project Gutenberg offers 73,921 free eBooks for Kindle, iPad, Nook, Android, and iPhone.Project Gutenberg
French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur was born #OTD in 1822
He is renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation, and pasteurization, the last of which was named after him. His research in chemistry led to remarkable breakthroughs in the understanding of the causes & preventions of diseases, which laid down the foundations of hygiene, public health & much of modern medicine.
Louis Pasteur at PG:
gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?q…
Project Gutenberg offers 72,437 free eBooks for Kindle, iPad, Nook, Android, and iPhone.Project Gutenberg
The first message between two computers on ARPANET was sent #OTD in 1969. The “LO” of “LOGIN” was successfully transmitted and then one of the systems crashed.
Charles Kline’s IMP Log: “Talked to SRI host to host.”
Image: UCLA Kleinrock Center for Internet Studies
Happy 115th birthday, spacetime!
Hermann Minkowski addressed the 80th Assembly of German Natural Scientists and Physicians #OTD in 1908, offering a radical four-dimensional reformulation of Einstein's theory of special relativity.
His opening lines:
The Voyager 1 space probe was launched from Cape Canaveral #OTD in 1977, a few weeks after Voyager 2.
Now it's the most distant human-made object – about 14.96 billion miles from Earth, racing away from us at 38,000 miles per hour with respect to the Sun.
Images: NASA/KSC/JPL
Geneticist Liane Russell was born #OTD in 1923.
She pioneered the study of mutagenesis and teratogenesis due to radiation, and identified the role of the Y chromosome in sex determination. Her work led to diagnostic x-ray safety standards for women of childbearing age.
Science, the joy of wild places, and civic engagement as a response to fascism – this is one of my favorite threads.
Antoni van Leeuwenhoek died #OTD in 1723.
A largely self-taught man in science, he is commonly known as "the Father of Microbiology", and one of the first microscopists and microbiologists. Van Leeuwenhoek is best known for his pioneering work in microscopy and for his contributions toward the establishment of microbiology as a scientific discipline. via @wikipedia
Books by Antoni van Leeuwenhoek at PG:
gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/83…
Project Gutenberg offers 71,410 free eBooks for Kindle, iPad, Nook, Android, and iPhone.Project Gutenberg
Hey, that's us!
#OTD in 1959, Explorer 6 took the first photo of Earth ever taken by a satellite! It transmitted this image of a sunlit portion of the north central Pacific Ocean.
See more of the first photos of Earth from space: go.nasa.gov/3DzVhhQ
#NASAhistory
3 days after being released from quarantine, Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins were showered with ticker tape and cheered on by an exuberant crowd in New York City #OTD in 1969.
More about the celebrations: go.nasa.gov/3Ov84Hl
#NASAhistory
A Soaring Success!
#OTD in 1977, NASA's first space shuttle orbiter Enterprise completed its first free flight, with Fred Haise and Gordon Fullerton piloting it down to the runway at @NASAArmstrong.
Watch video from the flight: go.nasa.gov/4557hE3
#NASAhistory
Documentary of shuttle Enterprise on the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), separating from the SCA in flight, and in free-flight. Footage shows SCA pilots Fitz...YouTube
#OTD in 2011, NASA's Dawn spacecraft captured these images of the asteroid Vesta on its mission to characterize the processes of our solar system's early evolution.
More about Dawn's mission: go.nasa.gov/47d7qXB
#NASAhistory
Dawn was the first mission to orbit a dwarf planet and the first two orbit two bodies in the main asteroid belt.NASA Solar System Exploration
#OTD in 2005, STS-114 completed the Space Shuttle Program's 14-day "Return to Space" mission, the first after the tragic loss of Columbia 2.5 years earlier.
More: go.nasa.gov/45cQfnh
#NASAhistory
STS-114 was the first Return to Flight mission since the tragic loss of Columbia Feb. 1, 2003. Two and a half years were spent researching and implementing safety improvements for orbiters and external tanks.Empty Test
#OTD 5 years ago, NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) captured its first light image, showing a wide swath of the southern sky using all four of its wide field cameras (image from one camera shown here).
Read about what TESS is up to now: go.nasa.gov/3OGqvKE
#NASAhistory
NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration Program, the search for planets and life beyond our solar system.Exoplanet Exploration: Planets Beyond our Solar System
#OTD in 1971, the Apollo 15 Command Module "Endeavour," with astronauts Dave Scott, Al Worden and Jim Irwin aboard, splashed down in the Pacific Ocean to end their mission. Although 1 of the 3 main parachutes collapsed, the crew was unharmed.
Owen Garriott (shown here) and his Skylab 3 crewmates performed a nearly 6.5 hour spacewalk #OTD in 1973 to install a 2-pole sunshade, change the film on the Apollo Telescope Mount, and install and repair equipment for experiments. #Skylab50
Learn more: go.nasa.gov/47rmpNR
#NASAhistory
On July 28, 1973, the second crew to occupy Skylab, American’s first space station, lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida on a planned two-month mission, at the time the longest human spaceflight.Kelli Mars (NASA)
Did Mars ever have the right conditions to support life?
#OTD in 2012, the @MarsCuriosity rover landed on the Red Planet. Sampling Martian rocks over 19 miles and 11 years, Curiosity continues to shine a light on Mars's history.
Where is Curiosity now? go.nasa.gov/3YksJT8
#NASAhistory
NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, Curiosity is the largest and most capable rover ever sent to Mars. View the latest news, images, and discoveries from the Red Planet.NASA Mars Exploration
More than what meets the eye...
@NASAJuno launched on its 5-year journey to Jupiter #OTD in 2011. It has revealed what's under the planet's outer layer of swirling clouds, and provided unprecedented views of Jupiter and its moons.
What is Juno up to now? go.nasa.gov/456QkZw
#NASAhistory
Launch and mission summary for NASA's Juno Mission to Jupiter, which will help reveal the origin and evolution of Jupiter as well as our solar system.NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
Shortly before the rover’s 11th anniversary on the Red Planet, its team helped guide it up a steep, slippery slope to examine meteor craters.NASA Mars Exploration
Phoenix is so hot! 🔥
The Phoenix Mars Lander that is. #OTD in 2007, Phoenix was launched to the Red Planet on a mission to investigate the biological potential in Mars's icy far North. @NASAMars @NASAJPL
Dig in to its chilly findings: go.nasa.gov/459vyZb
#NASAhistory
Mars has long fascinated us as a place possibly once hospitable to life. The early robotic missions of the 1960s relayed images of a Moon-like cratered terrain with a forbiddingly cold and thin atmosphere of carbon dioxide.Kelli Mars (NASA)
The first spacecraft to orbit Mercury 🛰️
#OTD in 2004, the MESSENGER spacecraft launched to Mercury. It returned nearly 300,000 images over its 4 years in Mercury's orbit, revealing past volcanic activity and the presence of water ice.
Learn more: go.nasa.gov/454jLvc
#NASAhistory
NASA’s real-time science encyclopedia of deep space exploration. Our scientists and far-ranging robots explore the wild frontiers of our solar system.NASA Solar System Exploration
What could be better than experiments in space? Experiments on the Moon!
#OTD in 1971, Apollo 15 astronaut David Scott performed his feather and hammer experiment on the Moon, demonstrating that without air resistance all objects fall at the same rate. go.nasa.gov/47cbHuk
#NASAhistory
At the end of the last Apollo 15 moon walk, Commander David Scott (pictured above) performed a live demonstration for the television cameras.Moon: NASA Science
During their first few days on Skylab, @NASA_Astronauts Al Bean, Owen Garriott, and Jack Lousma moved slowly to minimize their vertigo as they adjusted to weightlessness.
In this image taken #OTD in 1973, they have a meal together. #Skylab50
More: go.nasa.gov/3DG4ULX
#NASAhistory
On July 28, 1973, the second crew to occupy Skylab, American’s first space station, lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida on a planned two-month mission, at the time the longest human spaceflight.Kelli Mars (NASA)
Pilot John Manke first flew the X-24B, the "flying flatiron," on a glide flight #OTD in 1973. These glide missions represented the final milestone in NASA's piloted lifting body program that helped write flight plans for space shuttle landings.
More: go.nasa.gov/3OCBlAZ
#NASAhistory
Lifting Bodies demonstrated the ability of pilots to maneuver and safely land a wingless vehicle.NASA
Before 1964, we had no close-up photos of the Moon, and it wasn't known if astronauts could feasibly land on its surface. That changed when Ranger 7 sent back 4,316 images of the lunar surface before impacting the Moon #OTD in 1964.
More about Ranger 7: go.nasa.gov/3QhaGv4
#NASAhistory
