Wikipedia:Main Page history/2024 April 9b
From today's featured article
The Mercury Seven were a group of American astronauts selected to fly spacecraft for Project Mercury. Announced by NASA on April 9, 1959, Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard, and Deke Slayton created a new profession. The group piloted all the spaceflights of the Mercury program that had an astronaut on board from May 1961 to May 1963, and some flew in the Gemini, Apollo, and Space Shuttle programs. Shepard became the first American to enter space in 1961, and walked on the Moon in 1971. Grissom, after flying Mercury and Gemini missions, died in 1967 in the Apollo 1 fire; the others survived past retirement from service. Schirra commanded Apollo 7, the first crewed Apollo flight. Slayton, grounded with atrial fibrillation, ultimately flew on the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project in 1975. Glenn became the first American in orbit in 1962, and flew on Space Shuttle Discovery in 1998 to become, at age 77, the oldest person to fly in space at the time. (Full article...)
Did you know ...
- ... that the whereabouts of the painting Funeral of a Mummy on the Nile (pictured) were unknown for more than 100 years?
- ... that the capital of South Ossetia once had more Jews than Ossetians?
- ... that according to Lois N. Magner, Hildegard of Bingen's Physica is "probably the first book by a female author to discuss the elements and the therapeutic virtues of plants, animals, and metals"?
- ... that Cliff Christl, who became the Green Bay Packers team historian in 2014, estimated that he had recorded more than 250 oral histories with past players and coaches since the 1990s?
- ... that at the Eurovision Song Contest 1992, Johnny Logan became the first person to win the contest three times as either a performer or a songwriter?
- ... that the positive reception for Until Dawn, developed by Supermassive Games, caught Sony by surprise and led to two spin-off games?
- ... that the Seattle Storm had a ten-season streak of playoff appearances?
- ... that Stan Brakhage's film Sirius Remembered shows the decomposition of the corpse of his family's dog?
- ... that Tim Kinsella made most of the lyrics for Cap'n Jazz's only album, Shmap'n Shmazz, during his first experience with psilocybin mushrooms?
In the news
- Nobel Prize–winning theoretical physicist Peter Higgs (pictured) dies at the age of 94.
- A total solar eclipse is visible across parts of North America.
- In NCAA Division I basketball, the South Carolina Gamecocks win the women's championship and the UConn Huskies win the men's championship.
- Mexico breaks diplomatic relations with Ecuador in response to Ecuadorian police forcibly entering the Mexican embassy in Quito.
- A 7.4-magnitude earthquake strikes near Hualien City, Taiwan.
On this day
April 9: Vimy Ridge Day in Canada (1917)
- 193 – Year of the Five Emperors: Septimius Severus was proclaimed Roman emperor by his troops at Carnuntum in modern-day Austria.
- 1388 – Despite being vastly outnumbered, forces of the Old Swiss Confederacy defeated an Austrian army at the Battle of Näfels.
- 1838 – The National Gallery (pictured) opened in its current building in Trafalgar Square, London.
- 1939 – After being denied permission to perform at Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution, African-American singer Marian Anderson gave an open-air concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
- al-Muqtafi (b. 1096)
- Isambard Kingdom Brunel (b. 1806)
- Mary Jackson (b. 1921)
Today's featured picture
The Andasol solar power station is a 150-megawatt concentrated solar power station and Europe's first commercial plant to use parabolic troughs. Located near Guadix in Andalusia, Spain, the Andasol plant uses tanks of molten salt as thermal energy storage to continue generating electricity, irrespective of whether the sun is shining or not. It consists of three projects, completed in 2008, 2009 and 2011, and occupying a total area of about 200 hectares (490 acres). Because of its high altitude (1,100 m; 3,600 ft) and the semi-arid climate, the site has exceptionally high annual direct insolation. This aerial view of the Andasol plant was taken in 2021, with the snow-capped peaks of the Sierra Nevada in the background. Photograph credit: kallerna
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