logo

Video encyclopedia

Flashback calendar

The largest Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton is discovered

Sue is the largest, most extensive and best preserved Tyrannosaurus rex specimen ever found at over 90% recovered by bulk. It was discovered by Sue Hendrickson, a paleontologist, and was named after her. After ownership disputes were settled, the fossil was auctioned for the US $8.3 million, the highest amount ever paid for a dinosaur fossil.

American physicist William Shockley dies

American physicist William Shockley is born

The first free flight of the Space Shuttle Enterprise

The Approach and Landing Tests were a series of taxi and flight trials of the prototype Space Shuttle Enterprise, conducted in 1977 to test the vehicle's flight characteristics both on its own and when mated to the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, prior to the operational debut of the Shuttle system.

First communications satellite is launched

It was called Echo 1 (It had a brother, Echo 2). The satellite was a metalized ball. In fact it was a balloon. It was inflated with gas after it has been put into orbit. Echo I did not receive or broadcast messages. It acted just as a passive reflector for microwaves. It bounced signals from one place on Earth to another.

Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger dies

He developed a number of fundamental results in the field of quantum theory. Schrödinger formulated the famous wave equation. He also proposed an original interpretation of the physical meaning of the wave function in quantum mechanics. To the general public, he is most known for his "Schrödinger's cat" thought-experiment.

The last quagga dies at the Artis Magistra zoo in Amsterdam

The quagga is an extinct subspecies of plains zebra that lived in South Africa until becoming extinct late in the 19th century. The last captive specimen died in Amsterdam in 1883. Only one quagga was ever photographed alive and only 23 skins are preserved today.

Isaac Singer is granted a patent for his sewing machine

Isaac Merritt Singer made important improvements in the design of the sewing machine and was the founder of the Singer Sewing Machine Company. Many had patented sewing machines before Singer, but his success was based on the practicality of his machine and its availability on an installment payment basis.

Anniversaries of the (in)famous