Voyager 1 officially became the first human-made object to enter interstellar space
MajorNASA confirmed that the spacecraft, launched in 1977, had crossed the heliopause and left our solar system. At over 12 billion miles from Earth, it co...
September 12 in History
Significant events that happened on this day.
Historical Events
2013
2007
A Japanese man attempted to board a flight with two pythons hidden in his pants
Airport security in Stockholm discovered the smuggler had wrapped the snakes around his legs. He also had 75 live snakes and other reptiles concealed...
1995
eBay was founded under the name 'AuctionWeb' by computer programmer Pierre Omidiar
The first item ever sold was Omidiar's broken laser pointer for $14.83. When he contacted the buyer to ask if they understood it was broken, they repl...
1992
NASA astronaut Mae Jemison became the first African American woman to travel to space
MajorJemison launched aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour, carrying out experiments in material science and life sciences during the eight-day mission. A tr...
1974
Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia was deposed after ruling for 58 years
MajorThe 82-year-old emperor, considered divine by Rastafarians worldwide, was overthrown in a military coup. He was found dead under mysterious circumstan...
1962
President Kennedy declared the U.S. would send humans to the moon before the decade ended
MajorIn his famous speech at Rice University, JFK said 'We choose to go to the moon not because it is easy, but because it is hard.' The ambitious goal was...
1959
Bonanza premiered on NBC, becoming the first major western series broadcast in color
The show was specifically designed to boost color TV sales for NBC's parent company RCA. It became the second-longest-running western series in U.S. t...
1959
The Soviet Union's Luna 2 became the first human-made object to reach the moon
MajorThe spacecraft crash-landed on the lunar surface, delivering Soviet pennants to the moon. This marked a major milestone in the Space Race, proving tha...
1958
Jack Kilby demonstrated the first integrated circuit at Texas Instruments
MajorHis invention revolutionized electronics and made modern computers possible. Kilby's colleagues had gone on vacation, leaving him alone in the lab wit...
1953
John F. Kennedy married Jacqueline Bouvier in Newport, Rhode Island
The future president wed the 24-year-old photographer and socialite in a ceremony attended by 800 guests. Jackie's wedding dress, designed by Ann Lowe...
1940
Four teenagers discovered the Lascaux cave paintings in France while searching for their lost dog
MajorThe boys stumbled into a hole that led to one of the most significant archaeological finds of the 20th century - prehistoric cave paintings dating bac...
1910
The world's first policewoman with arrest powers was appointed in Los Angeles
Alice Stebbins Wells, a former social worker and minister, convinced the LAPD to hire her. She designed her own uniform and focused on cases involving...
1880
H.L. Mencken was born in Baltimore, becoming America's most influential satirist and social critic
Mencken would famously cover the Scopes Monkey Trial and coin countless phrases, including calling the South 'the Bible Belt.' He once defined democra...
