1986: Challenger explodes
At 11:38 am EST, the space shuttle Challenger lifts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Onboard was Christa McAuliffe, who was on her way to becoming the first US civilian to travel into space on a non-scientific mission.
McAuliffe, a 37-year-old high school teacher from New Hampshire, won a competition that earned her a place among the seven-member crew of the Challenger. She underwent months of shuttle training, and then, beginning on January 23, was forced to wait six long days as the Challenger's launch countdown was repeatedly delayed due to bad weather and technical problems.
Finally, on 28 January, the shuttle lifted off. Seventy-three seconds later, hundreds of spectators on the ground, including Christa's family, stared in disbelief as the shuttle exploded in a forking plume of smoke and fire. Millions more watched the tragedy unfold live on television. There were no survivors.
A presidential commission appointed to investigate the accident determined that the explosion was caused by the failure of an O-ring seal in one of the two solid-fuel rockets. The elastic O-ring did not respond as expected because of the cold temperature at launch time, which began a chain of events that led to the massive explosion.
As a result of the tragedy, NASA did not send astronauts into space for more than two years as it redesigned a number of features of the space shuttle.
2004
In Britain, the Hutton Report – an enquiry into the death of Dr David Kelly – is published.
1997
In South Africa, four police officers, appearing before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, admit to the 1977 killing of Stephen Biko, a leader of the South African 'Black consciousness' movement.
1996
Jerry Siegel, the cartoonist who created Superman, dies aged 81.
1982
US Brigadier General James Dozier is rescued by Italian police in Padua, after he was kidnapped by the Red Brigade.
1975
President Gerald Ford asks Congress for an additional $522 million in military aid for South Vietnam and Cambodia. Congress rejects the proposal.
1968
A recovery team is searching for wreckage from an American Air Force B-52 bomber, armed with four hydrogen bombs, which crashed into the sea near the Arctic air base of Thule in Greenland.
1953
At Wandsworth Prison in London, 19 year old Derek Bentley is hanged for the murder of a policeman. 16 year old Christopher Craig, who actually fired the gun, escapes the gallows because of his age. In 1998, Bentley’s conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal.
1945
World War II: Part of the 717-mile 'Burma Road' from Lashio, Burma, to Kunming in southwest China, is reopened by the Allies, allowing supplies to flow back into China.
1935
Iceland is the first country in the world to legalise abortion.
1917
American forces are recalled from Mexico after searching for nearly eleven months for Mexican revolutionary, Pancho Villa.
1915
The First World War: The American merchant ship, William P. Frye is sunk by a German cruiser.
1881
The first Boer War begins.
1813
'Pride and Prejudice' is first published in the United Kingdom.
1547
Edwards VI becomes King of England.
1077
Henry IV, The Holy Roman Emperor is re-emitted into the Church after being absolved by Pope Gregory VII. Henry had originally been excommunicated after he had sought to challenge the Pope’s reforms to the investiture process. These events are commonly referred to as the 'Walk to Canossa'.