Ulf Merbold (born 1941) is a German physicist and astronaut. After growing up in East Germany, he studied physics at the University of Stuttgart in West Germany. In 1977, he applied to become one of the first astronauts of the European Space Agency (ESA), and started astronaut training with NASA in 1978. On November 28, 1983, Merbold became the first West German in space and the first non-American to fly on a NASA spacecraft when he flew aboard Space Shuttle Columbia as a payload specialist of the STS-9 mission. He participated in two further space flights, the STS-42 NASA mission in 1992 and a Euromir mission to the Russian space station Mir in 1994. In total, he spent 49 days in space, where most of his work was related to performing experiments in materials science and the life sciences. Merbold also provided ground support for other ESA missions and served as head of the German Aerospace Center's astronaut office. He worked for ESA until his retirement in 2004.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1895:

The Chicago Times-Herald race, the first automobile race in the U.S., was held in Chicago. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Times-Herald_race

1903:

SS Petriana struck a reef near Point Nepean, leading to Australia's first major oil spill and a debate over the White Australia policy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Petriana

1966:

In a military coup, Michel Micombero abolished the Burundian monarchy and declared the country a republic with himself as president. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Micombero

2016:

LaMia Flight 2933 crashed near Medellín, Colombia, killing 71 people, many of whom were players from Chapecoense Football Club. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaMia_Flight_2933

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

gateleg: (furniture, also attributive) A table leg, set into a frame in the form of a gate, that may be swung back to allow a leaf of the tabletop to hang down. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gateleg

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

The dreamers are the saviours of the world. As the visible world is sustained by the invisible, so men, through all their trials and sins and sordid vocations, are nourished by the beautiful visions of their solitary dreamers. Humanity cannot forget its dreamers; it cannot let their ideals fade and die; it lives in them; it knows them as the realities which it shall one day see and know.   --James Allen https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Allen