The Philae space probe became the first spacecraft to land on a comet
After a ten-year journey through space, the European Space Agency's lander touched down on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, bouncing twice before sett...
November 12 in History
Significant events that happened on this day.
Historical Events
2014
1990
Tim Berners-Lee published a formal proposal for the World Wide Web
MajorWorking at CERN in Switzerland, Berners-Lee outlined his vision for a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet. This docume...
1980
Voyager 1 made its closest approach to Saturn
The spacecraft flew within 77,000 miles of Saturn's cloud tops, sending back stunning images of the planet's rings and discovering new moons. This enc...
1971
The first issue of Ms. Magazine was published as an insert in New York Magazine
Gloria Steinem and Dorothy Pitman Hughes launched the feminist magazine that would become a cultural phenomenon. The preview issue sold out in eight d...
1970
A dead whale exploded in Oregon after authorities attempted to dispose of it with dynamite
The Oregon Highway Division tried to remove a beached 45-foot whale carcass by blowing it up with a half-ton of dynamite, reasoning the pieces would b...
1954
Ellis Island closed as an immigration station after processing over 12 million immigrants
MajorFor 62 years, Ellis Island served as America's busiest immigrant inspection station, with over 40% of current American citizens able to trace their an...
1933
The first known photograph of the Loch Ness Monster was allegedly taken
Hugh Gray captured a blurry image of what he claimed was a large creature in Scotland's Loch Ness, sparking decades of monster hunting tourism. Skepti...
1927
Leon Trotsky was expelled from the Soviet Communist Party
MajorJoseph Stalin successfully removed his main rival from power, marking a decisive moment in the struggle for control after Lenin's death. Trotsky would...
1916
Birth of Jo Stafford, the singer whose voice was so perfect it was called 'boring' by critics
Stafford became one of the best-selling artists of the 1950s with her technically flawless voice, but some critics complained she sang 'too perfectly'...
1892
William 'Pudge' Heffelfinger became the first professional football player
The Allegheny Athletic Association paid Heffelfinger $500 to play in a game against the Pittsburgh Athletic Club, marking the birth of professional Am...
1847
The first anesthetic use of chloroform in childbirth was administered by Dr. James Simpson
Scottish physician James Simpson used chloroform to ease labor pain for the first time, revolutionizing obstetrics despite fierce opposition from thos...
1799
Andrew Ellicott Douglass became the first American to see the Leonid meteor shower
The spectacular meteor storm produced thousands of shooting stars per hour over Florida, terrifying many who thought it signaled the end of the world....