Category: This day in History

In 2002, PayPal cofounder Elon Musk established the space transportation company SpaceX. In 2010, SpaceX became the first private company to place a spacecraft into orbit and successfully recover it. The craft, called Dragon, was launched on a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral. In 2012, Dragon became the first commercial spacecraft to successfully rendezvous with and be attached to the International Space Station (ISS). When did Dragon begin regular cargo flights to the ISS? Discuss

The original Covent Garden playhouse, called the Theatre Royal, was built in 1732 and hosted performances of plays, pantomimes, and opera. Twice destroyed by fire and rebuilt, the theater that stands today is the third built on the site. The Royal Ballet began performing there in 1946. The Royal Opera House reopened in 1999 after an 18-month renovation. It seats 2,268 people and consists of four tiers of boxes and balconies. What actor financed the construction of the original theater in 1732? Discuss

In 1783, Congress passed a resolution approving an equestrian statue of George Washington. Plans were made to erect it at the site of the present Washington Monument, but Washington objected to the idea. After his death in 1799, plans for a memorial were discussed but none was adopted until 1832, when blocks of stone began to be collected from each state, some foreign countries, and private individuals. The 555-ft (169-m) monument was finally completed in 1884. Its tip is made of what? Discuss

Flight 19 was the designation of five US Navy bombers that disappeared over the Bermuda Triangle during a navigation training flight from a naval air station in Florida. All 14 airmen involved in the exercise were lost. The search-and-rescue flight that went after them also disappeared, along with its 13-man crew, and is assumed to have exploded in midair. No wreckage from any of the six aircraft has ever been positively identified. What did Navy investigators conclude happened to Flight 19? Discuss

Established in 1881, the Los Angeles Times was purchased and incorporated in 1884 by Harrison Gray Otis. The newspaper prospered and became an influential force in conservative politics in California. Long dominated by the Chandler family, beginning with Otis’s son-in-law Harry Chandler, it developed into a model of balanced and comprehensive journalism in the 1960s, with Otis Chandler at the helm, and came to be seen as one of the world’s top papers. Why were its offices bombed in 1910? Discuss

At the end the French and Indian Wars, France ceded the entire Illinois region to Britain. This region was an integral part of the Old Northwest that was brought within US boundaries 20 years later by the 1783 Treaty of Paris, which ended the American Revolution. In 1787, the area was officially designated the Northwest Territory. Made part of Indiana Territory in 1800, Illinois was granted statehood in 1818. In recent years, Illinois has earned recognition for being what sort of state? Discuss

Brown was a radical US abolitionist who advocated armed action to end slavery. He and his supporters murdered five proslavery settlers in Kansas in 1856, and three years later he tried to start an armed liberation movement among slaves by seizing the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, intending to arm local slaves with its weapons. His small force was soon overpowered, and Brown was captured, tried for treason, convicted, and hanged. What went wrong during the raid? Discuss

Following the death of Henry, the cardinal-king of Portugal, in 1580, Philip II of Spain assumed control of Portugal by force of arms. The “Spanish captivity” lasted for 60 years. Finally, in 1640, the Portuguese took advantage of Philip IV’s preoccupation with a rebellion in Catalonia and revolted. The Portuguese dethroned him and reclaimed independence for Portugal. Undeterred, Philip fought for decades to regain control of Portugal. When did Spain finally recognize Portugal’s independence? Discuss

In 2004, Jennings won 74 consecutive games on the television game show Jeopardy!—the longest streak in the program’s history. His extensive knowledge of trivia earned him more than $2.5 million. Ratings for the show during his unprecedented streak increased by 22 percent. On his 75th appearance, the final answer was “Most of this firm’s 70,000 seasonal white-collar employees work only four months a year.” Jennings incorrectly responded with “What is FedEx?” What was the correct response? Discuss

Chaired by US Chief Justice Earl Warren, the Warren Commission was appointed by US President Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the shooting of his assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald. After months of investigation, it reported that Kennedy was killed by Oswald’s rifle shots from the Texas School Book Depository and that Oswald’s murder by Jack Ruby was not part of a conspiracy to assassinate Kennedy. What later reports questioned its findings? Discuss