| 1608 | | 2 Oct:
Hans Lippershey demonstrates, and applies for a patent for, the first refracting telescope, the forerunner of the modern optical telescope.W I R E D SciHi |
|
| 1609 | | 25 Aug:
Galileo demonstrates the telescope.Astronomy SA |
|
| 1633 | | 13 Feb:
Galileo Galilei arrives in Rome to face an ecclesiastical court on charges of committing heresy.W I R E D DJ |
|
| | 22 Jun:
Galileo Galilei is forced to recant his view that the Sun, not the Earth, is the center of the Universe.UKMC Fordham |
|
| 1719 | | 11 Dec:
The first recorded sighting of the aurora borealis in North America occurs in New England.DE tOFA |
|
| 1758 | |
| 1780 | | 9 Oct:
An expedition sets off from Harvard College to observe a solar eclipse from Penobscot Bay in Maine which is still controlled by Britain.USNA JSTOR |
|
| 1781 | | 13 Mar:
British astronomer William Herschel discovers the planet Uranus while surveying the sky with his telescope.
UT EarthSky |
|
| 1822 | | 11 Sep:
The Catholic Church finally agrees with science and allows that the Earth revolves around the Sun.W I R E D FT |
|
| 1845 | | 28 Aug:
The first issue of Scientific American is published.SA SI |
|
| 1846 | | 10 Aug:
The Smithsonian Institute is founded.SI USNA |
|
| |
| 1847 | | 1 Oct:
Maria Mitchell is the first American to record a comet sighting.NEHS Nature |
|
| 1860 | | 18 Jul:
The first photographs of a solar eclipse are taken.HA EclipseMaps |
|
| 1863 | | 3 Mar:
The National Academy of Sciences is established.NAS Harvard |
|
| 1888 | | 27 Jan:
The National Geographic Society is incorporated. WHP |
|
| | 22 Sep:
The National Geographic Society begins publishing its magazine. Biblio |
|
| 1908 | | 30 Jun:
A large meteorite, presumed to be about 120 feet across, enters the atmosphere above Siberia and explodes, destroying about 80 million trees and lighting up the sky. NASA EarthSky |
|
| 1918 | | 7 Nov:
Dr. Robert Hutchings Goddard demonstrates tube-launched solid-propellant rockets at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, the forerunners to the bazooka.ESA AFHF |
|
| 1926 | |
| 1930 | |
| | 13 Mar:
The discovery of the planet Pluto is announced by its discover Clyde Tombaugh at the Lowell Observatory.APS Lowell |
|
| | 12 May:
The first planetarium in the U. S., the Adler Planetarium, opens to the public.Adler CCT |
|
| 1943 | | 10 Jun:
Brothers László and Georg Bíró, Hungarian refugees living in Argentina, patent the ballpoint pen.W I R E D FPN |
|
| 1947 | | 7 Jul:
The Roswell Incident occurs.Space RAM |
|
| |
| 1948 | | 3 Jun:
The 200 inch Hale Telescope goes into operation at the Palomar Observatory.NPS UC |
|
| 1950 | | 24 Jul:
Cape Canaveral launches its first rocket.W I R E D CoF |
|
| 1954 | | 30 Nov:
A meteorite crashes through the roof and strikes a napping Ann Hodges in Sylacauga, Alabama, the only documented injury from an extra-terrestrial object.Space SIMag |
|
| 1957 | | 4 Oct:
The Soviet Union successfully launches the world's first artificial satellite, Sputnik I.NASA |
|
| | 3 Nov:
Laika the dog becomes the first animal launched into orbit.Space NASA |
|
| 1958 | | 31 Jan:
Explorer I, the first U. S. satellite, is launched into earth orbit.NASA SI |
|
| | 10 Feb:
MIT's Lincoln Laboratory bounces radar waves off Venus from their facility at Millstone Hill in Westford, Massachusetts.NASA Space |
|
| | 17 Mar:
Vanguard 1, the first solar-powered satellite, is launched.NASA Space |
|
| | 2 Apr:
U. S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower calls for a civilian National Aeronautics and Space Agency to oversee the US space program, NASA.NASA SCD |
|
| | 29 Jul:
President Eisenhower authorizes creation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).DDE-PL NASA |
|
| 1959 | | 17 Feb:
Vanguard II, the first weather satellite, is launched.SI NASA |
|
| | 9 Apr:
NASA announces its picks for the first U. S. astronauts, known collectively as the "Mercury Seven".NASA Space |
|
| | 7 Aug:
The United States launches Explorer 6, the first satellite to take and transmit images of the Earth.NASA KSC |
|
| | 14 Sep:
The Soviet space probe, Luna 2, becomes the first man-made object to reach another celestial body, crashing onto the Moon.W I R E D NASA |
|
| | 7 Oct:
The first photographs of the far side of the Moon are taken by Luna 3.NASA |
|
| 1960 | | 1 Apr:
The first weather satellite, TIROS-1, goes into orbit.NASA SI |
|
| | 13 Apr:
The first navigation satellite, Transit 1b or NavSat, is put into orbit by the U. S. Navy.NPS LAAFB |
|
| 1961 | | 12 Apr:
Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space.NASA Space |
|
| | 5 May:
Alan Shepard, on board the Freedom 7, becomes the first American to journey into space.NASA SIMag |
|
| | 25 May:
President John F. Kennedy announces before Congress, the goal of sending an American to the Moon before the end of the decade.NASA JFKLib |
|
| | 29 Nov:
Enos becomes the first chimp to orbit the earth.NASA |
|
| 1962 | | 20 Feb:
John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the Earth.NASA USNA |
|
| | 12 Sep:
President John F. Kennedy, speaking at Rice University, challenges America to reach the Moon within the decade.NASA USNA |
|
| 1963 | | 16 Jun:
Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova is launched aboard Vostok 6 becoming the first woman to fly in space.NASA Space |
|
| 1965 | | 6 Apr:
Intelsat I, the first commercial satellite, is launched bringing the world the phrase "Live, via satellite".SN NASA |
|
| | 3 Jun:
Astronaut Edward White becomes the first American to walk in space.NASA Space |
|
| | 15 Dec:
Gemini 6, piloted by Wally Schirra and Tom Stafford, pulls within 0.3 meters (1 foot) of Gemini 7, piloted by Frank Borman and Jim Lovell, marking the first time in history that two vehicles had maneuvered to meet in space.SI NASA |
|
| 1966 | |
| | 30 May:
Surveyor I, the first U. S. spacecraft to touchdown on an extraterrestrial body, is launched.NASA SFI |
|
| | 23 Aug:
The first photograph of the Earth from the Moon is taken by the Lunar Orbiter I.NASA Space |
|
| 1968 | | 14 Oct:
The first live telecast from a manned U. S. spacecraft is sent from Apollo 7.NASA MZTV |
|
| 1969 | | 16 Jul:
Apollo 11, the first manned mission to land on the Moon, is launched.NASA Space |
|
| | 20 Jul:
Neil Armstrong walks on the moon.NASA Space |
|
| 1970 | | 13 Apr:
At 10:06 pm EST, an oxygen tank aboard the Apollo 13 Service Module explodes, crippling the space craft.NASA Space |
|
| | 15 Dec:
Venera 7 lands on Venus and becomes the first spacecraft to transmit data from the surface of any extraterrestrial planet.RPW NASA |
|
| 1971 | | 30 May:
Mariner 9, the first spacecraft to orbit another planet, is launched.NASA Space |
|
| | 30 Jun:
3 Russian cosmonauts die in their Soyuz capsule after a valve fails.CoF Space |
|
| | 31 Jul:
Apollo 15 astronauts Dave Scott and James Irwin take the first extraterrestrial ride in the Lunar Rover.A&SMag NASA |
|
| 1972 | | 19 Dec:
The last Apollo lunar-landing mission ends.NASA FJ |
|
| 1973 | | 14 May:
The Skylab space station is launched into orbit by a Saturn V booster.NASA Space |
|
| 1975 | | 17 Jul:
The Apollo and Soyuz space modules link up in space.NASA SN |
|
| 1976 | | 20 Jul:
The Viking 1 Lander touches down on Mars.NASA YouTube |
|
| 1979 | |
| 1980 | |
| 1983 | | 18 Jun:
Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space.NASA EarthSky |
|
| 1984 | | 7 Feb:
Astronaut Bruce McCandless becomes the first to perform an untethered spacewalk.NASA SI |
|
| | 11 Apr:
Astronauts from the space shuttle Challenger retrieve and repair the Solar Max satellite while in orbit.W I R E D ESA |
|
| 1986 | | 28 Jan:
Just after lift-off, the space shuttle Challenger explodes, killing all aboard.NASA Space |
|
| 1990 | | 25 Apr:
The Hubble Space Telescope is deployed from the space shuttle Discovery.NASA HS |
|
| 1995 | | 29 Jun:
The first U. S. space shuttle docks with the Russian space station Mir.NASA CCSSC |
|
| 1997 | |
| 2001 | | 27 Nov:
The first alien atmosphere is identified by the Hubble Telescope.NASA SI |
|
| 2003 | | 1 Feb:
Space Shuttle Columbia is destroyed upon reentry killing all on board.FBI Space |
|
| 2004 | | 21 Jun:
SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately funded spaceplane to achieve spaceflight.Space FAA |
|
| 2005 | | 14 Jan:
The Huygens probe successfully lands on Saturn's largest moon Titan - the only landing to take place in the outer Solar System and the furthest from Earth.esa NASA |
|
| 2006 | | 24 Aug:
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) revokes Pluto's planetary status. EarthSky |
|
| 2008 | | 28 Sep:
SpaceX successfully launches the first privately-developed liquid fuel rocket, Falcon 1, into Earth orbit.Space NASA |
|
| 2009 | | 7 Mar:
The Kepler Space Observatory, a spacecraft designed to search for other Earth-like planets, is launched at Cape Canaveral, Florida.NASA Space |
|
| 2010 | | 8 Dec:
SpaceX successfully returns the Dragon capsule back to earth after the launch and orbit of the Falcon 9 rocket - a first for a private company.PS NASA |
|
| 2011 | | 8 Jul:
The Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched in the final mission of the U. S. Space Shuttle program.Space NASA |
|
| | 21 Jul:
The space shuttle program comes to a close with the final touch down of Atlantis.NASA Space |
|
| 2013 | | 15 Feb:
A large meteor explodes as it streaks through the sky over the Chelyabinsk region in Russia, shattering windows and collapsing buildings from the force of the explosion and injuring over 1000 in the process.CNN Space |
|
| 2015 | | 21 Dec:
SpaceX brings the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket back to Earth for a soft touchdown at Cape Canaveral, Florida after delivering a payload of 11 commercial satellites into orbit.Space.com SA |
|
| 2018 | | 9 Aug:
The U. S. announces plans for a new branch of the military - Space Force!WAPO S&S |
|
Astronomy
One of our favorite things to do is look at the stars. Our current telescope of choice is the Orion Short Tube 4.5 EQ Reflector pictured here. We also use a variety of binoculars.
