Birth of Johannes Kepler
Johannes Kepler was born December 27, 1571 in Weil der Stadt, Germany. Kepler was one of the leading figures in an era that has been called the “Scientific Revolution.”
Space Exploration
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First Predicted Sighting of a Comet
On December 25, 1758, Halley’s Comet became the first comet to be seen after the accurate predicting of its passage. The comet was named after Royal Astronomer Sir Edmond Halley, who correctly predicted the comet’s return.
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First Man on the Moon Stamp
On September 9, 1969, the US Post Office issued its first ever jumbo-sized commemorative stamp. Honoring the Moon landing, the stamp was produced in secret and wasn’t announced until a week before the Apollo 11 launch.
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Viking 1 Lands on Mars
On July 20, 1976, Viking 1 became the first man-made object to land on Mars. It was one of the first spacecraft to conduct prolonged scientific studies on the surface on another planet.
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First US-Soviet Joint Issue Stamps
On July 15, 1975, the US and Soviet Union each issued stamps honoring the launch of their Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, their first joint space venture.
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First American Woman in Space
On June 18, 1983, Sally Ride became the first American woman in space. She was the third woman overall, after Soviet cosmonauts Valentina Tereshkova and Svetlana Savitskaya.
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JFK Calls to Put a Man on the Moon
On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy delivered a speech to Congress announcing his plan to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade.
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First Flight of the Space Shuttle Endeavour
On May 7, 1992, the Space Shuttle Endeavour embarked on its first mission, STS-49. America’s fifth and final operational shuttle, it would go on to fly 122,883,151 miles and spend 299 days in space.
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Launch of the Hubble Telescope
On April 24, 1990, NASA launched the Hubble Telescope from the Space Shuttle Discovery. Sending back amazing images from the furthest reaches of space, Hubble has given us a better understanding of our universe.
