Apollo 13 (April 11–17, 1970) was the seventh crewed mission in the
Apollo space program and the third meant to land on the Moon. The
landing was aborted after an oxygen tank in the service module
(pictured) failed two days into the mission. Apollo 13 was commanded by
Jim Lovell with Jack Swigert as command module (CM) pilot and Fred Haise
as lunar module (LM) pilot. Swigert was a late replacement for Ken
Mattingly, who was grounded after exposure to rubella. After the
explosion, the CM's systems had to be shut down to conserve resources,
forcing the crew to transfer to the LM as a lifeboat. Although the LM
was designed to support two men for two days, Mission Control
improvised new procedures so it could support three men for four days.
The astronauts' peril briefly renewed interest in the Apollo program;
tens of millions watched the splashdown in the South Pacific Ocean by
television. The story of Apollo 13 has been dramatized, most notably in
the 1995 film Apollo 13..
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_13_%28film%29>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1713:
The main treaties of the Peace of Utrecht were signed in the
city of Utrecht in the Dutch Republic, helping to bring an end to the
War of the Spanish Succession.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_of_Utrecht>
1913:
The cricket pavilion at the Nevill Ground was destroyed in an
arson attack (damage pictured) that was attributed to militant
suffragettes as part of a country-wide campaign co-ordinated by the
Women's Social and Political Union.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevill_Ground>
1979:
Uganda–Tanzania War: The allied forces of Tanzania and the
Uganda National Liberation Front captured the capital Kampala, deposing
Ugandan president Idi Amin.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Kampala>
1993:
Prisoners at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near
Lucasville, Ohio, rioted and took over the prison for 11 days,
resulting in the deaths of one officer and nine inmates.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Ohio_Correctional_Facility>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
flabbergast:
(transitive) To overwhelm with bewilderment; to amaze, confound, or
stun, especially in a ludicrous manner.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/flabbergast>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
We who survived the Camps are not true witnesses. We are those
who, through prevarication, skill or luck, never touched bottom. Those
who have, and who have seen the face of the Gorgon, did not return, or
returned wordless.
--Primo Levi
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Primo_Levi>
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