Apollo 4 was the first flight in the Apollo program and served as an
initial uncrewed test of the Saturn V rocket. The first launch from
Kennedy Space Center, Florida, where the space vehicle was assembled, it
was originally planned to take place early in 1967 but was delayed to
November 9 due to a myriad of issues. These included the need for
additional inspections following the Apollo 1 fire that killed the
first Apollo crew in January 1967. Apollo 4 was an "all-up" test,
meaning that the spacecraft was fully functional on its initial flight,
the first such for NASA. The Apollo 4 command module splashed down just
under nine hours after its launch, having completed all objectives. NASA
deemed the mission a complete success as it proved that the Saturn V
rocket worked, which was important in achieving NASA's overall goal of
landing astronauts on the Moon and bringing them back safely by the end
of the 1960s.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_4>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1818:
French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel submitted a memoir on
the diffraction of light to the Royal Academy of Sciences, providing
strong support for the wave theory of light.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustin-Jean_Fresnel>
1914:
The first shots of World War I were fired by the Austro-
Hungarian river monitor SMS Bodrog on Serbian defences near Belgrade.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yugoslav_monitor_Sava>
1954:
The first part of J. R. R. Tolkien's high-fantasy novel The
Lord of the Rings was published by Allen & Unwin.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
carnyx:
(music, historical) A bronze wind instrument used by Iron Age Celts (c.
200 B.C.E. – 200 C.E.) as a type of battle trumpet; held vertically when
played, it was shaped like an elongated S with a mouthpiece at the lower
end and a bell (often resembling an animal with an open mouth) at the
upper end.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/carnyx>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Now I understand what you tried to say to me How you suffered for
your sanity How you tried to set them free They would not listen —
They did not know how, Perhaps they'll listen now. For they could not
love you, But still your love was true And when no hope was left in
sight, on that starry starry night You took your life as lovers often
do, But I could have told you, Vincent, This world was never meant for
one as beautiful as you.
--Don McLean
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Don_McLean>