Today in History:
July 11, 1979
The United States’ first space station, Skylab, made its dramatic and unplanned return to Earth. Launched in 1973, Skylab was a pioneering orbital laboratory that hosted three crewed missions and provided invaluable data on life in space. But six years later, its time in orbit came to a fiery end.
Originally designed to remain in space for a decade or more, Skylab’s fate was sealed by increased solar activity, which expanded Earth’s atmosphere and increased drag on the station. Despite NASA’s efforts to reboost its orbit, plans to save Skylab fell through when the Space Shuttle program—intended to assist in its rescue—was delayed.
As Skylab reentered Earth’s atmosphere on July 11, 1979, it broke apart and scattered debris across the Indian Ocean and sparsely populated areas of Western Australia. The event sparked global attention and even a bit of humor. The town of Perth, Australia, famously turned on all its lights in a symbolic gesture of welcome—or warning—for the falling station. One unfortunate casualty was reported: a lone cow, struck by falling debris, became the only known victim of Skylab’s descent.
Despite the unexpected crash, no human injuries occurred, and the incident served as a wake-up call for future space missions regarding orbital debris and reentry planning.
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Also of interest on July 11th
1796 – The United States takes possession of Detroit from Great Britain under terms of the Jay Treaty.
1798 – The United States Marine Corps is re-established; they had been disbanded after the American Revolutionary War.
1801 – French astronomer Jean-Louis Pons makes his first comet discovery. In the next 27 years he discovers another 36 comets, more than any other person in history.
1804 – A duel occurs in which the Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr mortally wounds former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton.
1848 – Waterloo railway station in London opens.
1889 – Tijuana, Mexico, is founded.
1897 – Salomon August Andrée leaves Spitsbergen to attempt to reach the North Pole by balloon.
1914 – Babe Ruth makes his debut in Major League Baseball.
1914 – The US Navy launches the USS Nevada (BB-36) as its first standard-type battleship.
1922 – The Hollywood Bowl opens.
1934 – Engelbert Zaschka of Germany flies his large human-powered aircraft, the Zaschka Human-Power Aircraft, about 20 meters at Berlin Tempelhof Airport without assisted take-off.
1936 – The Triborough Bridge in New York City is opened to traffic.
1960 – To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is first published, in the United States.
1962 – First transatlantic satellite television transmission.
1962 – Project Apollo: At a press conference, NASA announces lunar orbit rendezvous as the means to land astronauts on the Moon, and return them to Earth.
1972 – The first game of the World Chess Championship 1972 between challenger Bobby Fischer and defending champion Boris Spassky starts.
1979 – America’s first space station, Skylab, is destroyed as it re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere over the Indian Ocean.
1990 – Oka Crisis: First Nations land dispute in Quebec begins.
2021 – Virgin Galactic launches its founder, Richard Branson, into space, the first company ever to do so.
Births on This Day
1653 – Sarah Good, American woman accused of witchcraft (died 1692)
1760 – Peggy Shippen, American wife of Benedict Arnold and American Revolutionary War spy (died 1804)
1767 – John Quincy Adams, American lawyer and politician, 6th President of the United States (died 1848)
1834 – James Abbott McNeill Whistler, American-English painter and illustrator (died 1903)
1920 – Yul Brynner, Russian actor and dancer (died 1985)
1934 – Giorgio Armani, Italian fashion designer, founded the Armani Company
1947 – Jeff Hanna, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and drummer
1950 – Bonnie Pointer, American singer (died 2020)
1952 – Stephen Lang, American actor and playwright
1953 – Leon Spinks, American boxer (died 2021)
1953 – Mindy Sterling, American actress
1956 – Sela Ward, American actress
1959 – Richie Sambora, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1959 – Suzanne Vega, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1963 – Lisa Rinna, American actress and talk show host
1965 – Scott Shriner, American singer-songwriter and bass player
1970 – Justin Chambers, American actor
1972 – Michael Rosenbaum, American actor
1978 – Kathleen Edwards, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
Deaths on This Day
1937 – George Gershwin, American pianist, songwriter, and composer (born 1898)
1989 – Laurence Olivier, English actor, director, and producer (born 1907)
1994 – Gary Kildall, American computer scientist, founded Digital Research (born 1942)
1999 – Jan Sloot, Dutch computer scientist and electronics technician (born 1945)
2004 – Laurance Rockefeller, American financier and philanthropist (born 1910)
2007 – Lady Bird Johnson, American beautification activist; 43rd First Lady of the United States (born 1912)
2007 – Ed Mirvish, American-Canadian businessman and philanthropist, founded Honest Ed’s (born 1914)
2014 – Tommy Ramone, Hungarian-American drummer and producer (born 1949)
2015 – Satoru Iwata, Japanese game programmer and businessman (born 1959)
2024 – Shelley Duvall, American actress (born 1949)
Holidays Today
July 11 | Holidays, Birthdays, Events
The Funnies:
AI Contribution of the Day:
Copilot
Quote of the Day:
Comic of the Day:
Wrong Hands | Cartoons by John Atkinson. ©John Atkinson, Wrong Hands
Inspirobot Always Controversial, Occasionally Inspirational Quote of the Day:
In case you missed yesterday’s Short, Shortly Reigning Spark! by @jimender2, you can catch it here.
What I am listening to today:
