Roger B. Chaffee (February 15, 1935 – January 27, 1967) was an
American naval aviator, aeronautical engineer, and astronaut in the
Apollo program. He died in a fire along with Gus Grissom and Ed White
during a pre-launch test for Apollo 1. Before joining NASA, Chaffee
obtained his private pilot's license and graduated from Purdue
University in 1957. Joining the U.S. Navy as an ensign, he trained to
fly the T-34, T-28, and A3D. Serving as quality and safety control
officer for Heavy Photographic Squadron 62, he took crucial photos of
Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis, earning him the Air Medal. He
joined NASA's Astronaut Group 3 in 1963 and served as capsule
communicator at Mission Control Center in Houston for the Gemini 3 and
Gemini 4 missions. He was given his first spaceflight assignment in
1966 as the third-ranking pilot on Apollo 1 and was promoted soon after
to lieutenant commander in the Navy. He was posthumously awarded the
Congressional Space Medal of Honor and a second Air Medal.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_B._Chaffee>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1796:
French Revolutionary Wars: Johan van Angelbeek, the Batavian
governor of Ceylon, surrendered Colombo to British forces, ending the
Invasion of Ceylon.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Ceylon_%281795%29>
1907:
Japan and the United States signed a gentleman's agreement
whereby the former would not permit further emigration to the U.S.,
while the latter would not limit Japanese immigration.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentlemen%27s_Agreement_of_1907>
1995:
Kevin Mitnick, the most wanted computer hacker at the time in
the U.S., was arrested and charged with computer fraud and wire fraud.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Mitnick>
2010:
Two passenger trains collided in Halle, Belgium, when one
driver failed to stop at a red signal, resulting in 19 deaths and 171
injuries.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halle_train_collision>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
meet cute:
(intransitive, informal) Of characters in a story or people in real
life: to meet each other in an adorable, amusing, or cute way.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/meet_cute>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
People think that foot pain is a fact of life, but life is
actually better than that.
--Me and You and Everyone We Know
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Me_and_You_and_Everyone_We_Know>
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