Kathryn D. Sullivan (born 1951) is an American geologist and oceanographer, and a former government official and NASA astronaut, who flew on three Space Shuttle missions. Sullivan was one of six women selected in NASA Astronaut Group 8, the first group to include women. During her first mission, STS-41-G, Sullivan performed the first spacewalk by an American woman. On her second, STS-31, she helped deploy the Hubble Space Telescope. On the third, STS-45, she served as Payload Commander on the first Spacelab mission dedicated to NASA's Mission to Planet Earth. Sullivan was Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration from 2014 to 2017. On June 7, 2020, Sullivan became the first woman to reach the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the Earth's oceans. In September 2021, President Joe Biden appointed her to the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathryn_D._Sullivan

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1867:

The Manchester Martyrs were hanged in Manchester, England, for killing a police officer while helping two Irish nationalists escape from police custody. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_Martyrs

1924:

The New York Times published evidence from Edwin Hubble stating that the Andromeda Nebula, previously believed to be part of the Milky Way, is in fact another galaxy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Hubble

1976:

Jacques Mayol became the first person to freedive to a depth of 100 metres (330 ft). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Mayol

2011:

Arab Spring: After months of protests in Yemen, President Ali Abdullah Saleh agreed to transfer power to Vice President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdrabbuh_Mansur_Hadi

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

paddock: 1. (also figuratively) A small enclosure or field of grassland, especially one used to exercise or graze horses or other animals. 2. (by extension) 3. (horse racing) An enclosure next to a racecourse where horses are paraded and mounted before a race and unsaddled after a race. 4. (motor racing) An area at a racing circuit where the racing vehicles are parked and worked on before and between races. 5. (sports, slang) A field on which a game is played; a playing field. 6. (Australia, New Zealand) A field of grassland of any size, either enclosed by fences or delimited by geographical boundaries, especially a large area for keeping cattle or sheep. 7. (chiefly Australia, New Zealand, mining) A place in a superficial deposit where ore or washdirt (“earth rich enough in metal to pay for washing”) is excavated; also, a place for storing ore, washdirt, etc. [...] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/paddock

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

My message and my final message — maybe the final message I give you from this podium — is that: Please, for your own safety, for that of your family, get your updated COVID-19 shot as soon as you’re eligible to protect yourself, your family, and your community.  I urge you to visit Vaccines.gov to find a location where you can easily get an updated vaccine.  And please do it as soon as possible.   --Anthony Fauci https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anthony_Fauci