The Space Race refers to the competition between the United States and
the Soviet Union roughly from 1957 to 1975, involving their efforts to
explore space with satellites and to eventually land a human being on
the Moon and return him to Earth. Though its roots lie in early rocket
technology and in the international tensions following World War II,
the Space Race effectively began with the Soviet launch of Sputnik in
1957. The term was coined as an analogy to the arms race. The Space
Race became an important part of the cultural and technological
rivalry between the USSR and the U.S. during the Cold War. Space
technology was a particularly important arena in this conflict, both
because of its military applications and due to the psychological
benefit of raising morale.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1562:
The French Wars of Religion began with a massacre of Huguenots.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Wars_of_Religion)
1872:
Yellowstone National Park, the first national park in the world, was
established.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone_National_Park)
1896:
Ethiopia won the decisive Battle of Adowa over Italy, ending the First
Italo-Abyssinian War.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Adowa)
1919:
Japanese rule in Korea: The Samil Movement in Korea began with
numerous peaceful protests nationwide, but was brutally suppressed by
the Japanese police and army.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_1st_Movement)
1947:
The International Monetary Fund began its financial operations.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Monetary_Fund)
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Wikiquote of the day:
"Imagine if every Thursday your shoes exploded if you tied them the
usual way. This happens to us all the time with computers, and nobody
thinks of complaining." -- Jef Raskin
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jef_Raskin)