The Apollo 15 postal covers incident involved the crew of NASA's Apollo 15, who in 1971 carried about 400 unauthorized postal covers (example pictured) to the Moon's surface. American astronauts David Scott, Alfred Worden and James Irwin agreed to receive about $7,000 each for transporting the covers, which were inside the Lunar Module Falcon as Scott and Irwin walked on the Moon. The covers were postmarked both prior to liftoff from Kennedy Space Center and after splashdown. Though the astronauts returned the money, they were reprimanded by NASA for poor judgment and were called before a closed session of a Senate committee. They were removed as the backup crew for Apollo 17 and never flew in space again; by 1977, all had left NASA. In 1983, Worden sued for the return of covers that had been impounded by NASA in 1972, and the three men received them in an out-of-court settlement. One of the covers provided in 1971 to West German stamp dealer Hermann Sieger sold for over $50,000 in 2014.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_15_postal_covers_incident

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1959:

After a two-week escape journey from Tibet, the 14th Dalai Lama reached the Tawang Monastery in Arunachal Pradesh in India. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tawang_Monastery

1964:

The Brazilian Armed Forces overthrew President João Goulart, establishing a military dictatorship that lasted 21 years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_Brazilian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat

2004:

The Old National Library Building in Singapore was closed to make way for a tunnel, despite widespread protests. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_National_Library_Building

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

two-spirit: 1. (chiefly Canada, US) A Native North American bisexual, homosexual, or gender-variant person; especially one belonging to a traditional tribal third-gender, fourth-gender, or transgender cultural category that has a ceremonial role. 2. (chiefly Canada, US) Of, pertaining to, or being a two-spirit (noun sense). [...] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/two-spirit

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

The first precept was never to accept a thing as true until I knew it as such without a single doubt.   --Discourse on the Method https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Discourse_on_the_Method