Who flew the first mission in the U.S. space shuttle program?
Captain Robert L. Crippen and John W. Young flew the space shuttle Columbia on its maiden voyage April 12-14, 1981.
The first public showing of a motion picture in the U.S. took place on April 23, 1896, at New York’s Koster & Bial Music Hall on 34th Street and Broadway. The 12 short-subject films, projected on Thomas Edison’s Vitascope, accompanied a vaudeville show. Previously, Edison’s films could only be viewed peep-show style on his Kinetoscope…
Europeans discovered Alaska in the 18th century. Vitus Bering, a Dane working for the Russians, and Alexei Chirikov discovered Alaska and the Aleutian Islands in 1741.
For a family of four, the poverty level in America defined by the Office of Management and Budget in 1990 is $12,675. In 1990, the percentage of all races that live below the poverty level was 13.5. Among whites, 10.7 percent lived below the poverty level; among blacks, 31.9 percent did. For persons of Hispanic…
Sargent Shriver, husband of President Kennedy’s sister Eunice and, in 1972, the running mate of unsuccessful presidential candidate George McGovern, was the first director of the Peace Corps. The Peace Corps, a volunteer organization to help Third World countries, was founded by Kennedy’s executive order on March 1, 1961.
The comic book superhero Superman died fighting the villain Doomsday in Superman No. 75, the January 1993 issue that went on sale on November 11, 1992.
Four major “French and Indian Wars” were fought in colonial times by Britain and France for control of North America. Each was part of a larger struggle involving shifting alliances, fighting in Europe, and colonial battles in other parts of the world. The struggle ended in 1763 with Britain winning most of France’s American empire,…