The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred on January 28, 1986,
killing all seven crew members aboard. Challenger disintegrated over the
Atlantic Ocean, off Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 11:39 a.m. EST
(16:39 UTC), 73 seconds into its flight. The disaster was caused by the
failure of the two O-ring seals in a joint in the Space Shuttle's right
solid rocket booster in record-low temperatures. Several crew members
are known to have survived the initial breakup of the spacecraft, but
the impact of the crew compartment at terminal velocity with the ocean
surface was too violent to be survivable, and the orbiter had no escape
system. President Ronald Reagan created the Rogers Commission to
investigate the accident; it criticized NASA's organizational culture
and decision-making processes that had contributed to the accident.
There was a 32-month hiatus in the Space Shuttle program. To replace
Challenger, the construction of Endeavour was approved in 1987, and the
new orbiter first flew in 1992.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Challenger_disaster>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1547:
Nine-year-old Edward VI, the first English monarch to be
raised as a Protestant, became king.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_VI>
1813:
English author Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice was
published, using material from an unpublished manuscript originally
written between 1796 and 1797.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pride_and_Prejudice>
1922:
The largest recorded snowstorm in the history of Washington,
D.C., collapsed the Knickerbocker Theatre (damage pictured), killing 98
people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knickerbocker_Theatre_%28Washington,_D.C.%29>
1984:
Tropical Storm Domoina made landfall in southern Mozambique,
causing some of the most severe flooding recorded in the region.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_Storm_Domoina>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
caliginous:
(archaic or literary) Dark, obscure; murky.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/caliginous>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Peace demands of Nature the recognition of human rights;
discrimination is contrary to Nature and to the enemy of peace.
--José Martí
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Mart%C3%AD>
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