Tag: Daily Witch Correspondences

April 21 Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2022 April 21

Apollo 16 Moon Panorama

Image Credit: Apollo 16, NASA; Panorama Assembly: Mike Constantine

Explanation: Fifty years ago, April 20, 1972, Apollo 16’s lunar module Orion touched down on the Moon’s near side in the south-central Descartes Highlands. While astronaut Ken Mattingly orbited overhead in Casper the friendly command and service module the Orion brought John Young and Charles Duke to the lunar surface. The pair would spend nearly three days on the Moon. Constructed from images (AS16-117-18814 to AS16-117-18820) taken near the end of their third and final surface excursion this panoramic view puts the lunar module in the distance toward the left. Their electric lunar roving vehicle in the foreground, Duke is operating the camera while Young aims the high gain communications antenna skyward, toward planet Earth.

 

Celebrate: Earth Day

April 21 Today In Hstory

Today’s Important Historical Events

753 BC Romulus and Remus found Rome (traditional date)

1526 First Battle of Panipat: Central Asian conqueror Babur defeats Sultan Ibrahim Lodi, establishing the Mughal Empire in India

1792 Brazilian revolutionary Tiradentes, is hanged, drawn and quartered in Rio de Janeiro

1863 Bahá’u’lláh, founder of the Bahá’í Faith, enters garden of Rivden near Baghdad. He makes his declaration as a Messenger of God during the 12 days spent there

1918 World War I: German fighter ace Baron Manfred von Richthofen “The Red Baron“, shot down and killed over Vaux sur Somme in France, Canadian pilot Arthur Roy Brown credited with the kill

1989 Thousands of Chinese crowd into Beijing’s Tiananmen Square cheering students demanding greater political freedom

Today’s Historical Events

753 BC Romulus and Remus found Rome (traditional date)

43 BC Battle of Mutina: Mark Antony is again defeated in battle by Aulus Hirtius, who is killed. Antony fails to capture Mutina and Decimus Brutus is murdered shortly after.

953 Otto I the Great gives Utrecht fishing rights

1420 Treaty of Saint Maartens Dike

1453 Turkish fleet sinks ships Golden Receiver in Constantinople

1521 Battle at Villalar: Emperor Charles I beats Communards

1526 First Battle of Panipat: Central Asian conqueror Babur defeats Sultan Ibrahim Lodi, establishing the Mughal Empire in India

1536 Thomas Cromwell begins to plot Anne Boleyn‘s downfall while feigning illness

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1925 Noël Coward‘s “Fallen Angels” premieres in London

1928 “The Passion of Joan of Arc“, directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer, starring Renée Jeanne Falconetti and Eugène Silvain, is released in Denmark

1930 “All Quiet on the Western Front” based on the novel by Erich Maria Remarque, directed by Lewis Milestone and starring Louis Wolheim and Lew Ayres premieres in Los Angeles (Academy Awards Outstanding Production 1930)

1940 1st $64 Question, “Take It or Leave It,” on CBS Radio

1962 9th National Film Awards (India): “Bhagini Nivedita” wins the Golden Lotus

1984 “Nightline” reverts back from 1 hour to ½ hour

1984 After 37 weeks Michael Jackson‘s album “Thriller” is knocked off as top album by movie soundtrack for “Footloose”

1986 Geraldo Rivera opens Al Capone‘s vault on live TV and finds nothing, except great ratings for his spectacle

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1956 Elvis Presley‘s 1st hit record, “Heartbreak Hotel”, becomes #1

1963 Beatles meet The Rolling Stones for the 1st time

1977 C Strouse & M Charnin’s musical “Annie” opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 2377 performances

1979 “Carmelina” closes at St James Theater NYC after 17 performances

1992 “High Rollers” opens at Helen Hayes theater on Broadway

1992 Allen Toussaint’s musical revue “High Rollers Social & Pleasure Club” opens at the Helen Hayes Theater, NYC; runs for 13 performances.

1993 “Wilder, Wilder, Wilder” opens at Circle in Sq NYC for 30 performances

1994 “Picnic” opens at Criterion Theater NYC for 45 performances

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1898 Phillies’ pitcher Bill Duggleby hits a grand slam on 1st at bat

1902 6th Boston Marathon won by Sam Mellor in 2:43:12

1904 Ty Cobb makes his pro debut for Augusta (South Atlantic League)

1910 Cleve Naps play 1st game at League Park, lose to Det Tigers 5-0

1913 17th Boston Marathon won by Fritz Carlson in 2:25:14.8

1919 23rd Boston Marathon won by Carl Linder in 2:29:13.4

1924 28th Boston Marathon won by Clarence DeMar for the third consecutive year in 2:29:40.2; 4th race victory

1925 No baseball games played in NL due to Charles Ebbets’ funeral

April 20 Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2022 April 20

Planet Line over New York Bridge

Image Credit & Copyright: Stan Honda

Explanation: There’s an interesting sky to see if you wake up before the Sun. Lined up on toward the eastern horizon are four planets in a row. The planets are so bright they can even be seen from the bright sky inside a city. In fact, the featured image was taken from New York City, USA, with the foreground highlighted by the RFK (Triborough) Bridge. Pictured, the planets are, left to right, Jupiter, Venus, Mars, and Saturn. The planets all appear in a row because they all orbit the Sun in the same plane. This plane, called the ecliptic plane, was created in the early days of our Solar System and includes all planets, including Earth. The morning planet parade will continue throughout April and May, and will even be joined by Mercury in June.

 

APOD volunteer programming opportunity: Discord

April 20 Today in History

Today’s Important Historical Events

1862 First pasteurization test completed by Frenchmen Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard

1902 Marie and Pierre Curie isolate the radioactive compound radium chloride

1920 Balfour Declaration recognized, makes Palestine a British Mandate

1968 British politician Enoch Powell makes his controversial “Rivers of Blood” speech

1974 ‘The Troubles’, the Northern Ireland conflict between republican and loyalist paramilitaries, British security forces, and civil rights groups, claims its 1000th victim

1980 Climax of Berber Spring in Algeria sees hundreds of Berber political activists arrested

1999 Columbine High School massacre: Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold kill 13 people and injure 24 others before committing suicide at Columbine High School, Colorado

2010 The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explodes, killing 11 and causing the rig to sink, causing a massive oil discharge into the Gulf of Mexico and an environmental disaster

Today’s Historical Events

295 8th recorded perihelion passage of Halley’s Comet

850 Guntherus becomes bishop of Cologne

1139 2nd Lateran Council (10th ecumenical council) opens in Rome

1290 Round Table tournament held near Winchester, England, in imitation of King Arthur, to commemorate betrothal of daughter of Edward I, and attended by the king

1505 Jews are expelled from Orange Burgandy by Philibert of Luxembourg

1551 John Dudley becomes Earl Marshal of England

1611 First known performance of Shakespeare‘s tragedy Macbeth at the Globe Theatre, London, recorded by Simon Forman

1650 Dutch East India Company (VOC) management sets new guidelines

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1920 Big Show ends 2 year run on NBC radio

1951 4th Cannes Film Festival: “Miss Julie” directed by Alf Sjoberg and “Miracle in Milan” directed by Vittorio De Sica jointly awarded the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film

1963 10th National Film Awards (India): “Dada Thakur” wins the Golden Lotus

1966 WDCA TV channel 20 in Washington, D.C. (IND) begins broadcasting

1971 Barbra Streisand records “We’ve Only Just Begun”

1976 George Harrison sings “The Lumberjack Song” with Monty Python in NYC

1977 “Annie Hall”, directed by Woody Allen and starring Woody Allen and Diane Keaton, is released (Academy Awards Best Picture 1978)

1981 Final performance of TV show “Soap” airs

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1759 George Frideric Handel is buried in Westminster Abbey, London

1865 Crosby Opera House opens in Chicago, Illinois; destroyed in the Great Fire of 1871

1896 1st public film showing in US John Philip Sousa‘s “El Capitan” premieres in NYC

1954 “Golden Apple” opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 125 performances

1955 “Saint of Bleecker St” closes at Broadway Theater NYC after 92 performances

1960 “From A to Z” opens at Plymouth Theater NYC for 21 performances

1963 “Sophie” closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 8 performances

1972 Virgil Thomson’s final opera, “Lord Byron“, with libretto by Jack Larson, first performance at Lincoln Center, New York City

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1887 Georges Bouton wins the world’s 1st motor race on a steam-powered quadricycle, a ‘test’ organised by French newspaper Le Velocipede

1903 7th Boston Marathon won by Irishman John Lorden in 2:41:29.8

1908 12th Boston Marathon won by Tom Morrissey in 2:25:43.2

1908 Opening day of competition of the New South Wales Rugby League.

1910 Cleveland Naps Addie Joss 2nd no-hitter, beats Chicago, 1-0

1912 Fenway Park officially opens, Red Sox beat NY Highlanders 7-6 in 11

1912 Tiger Stadium in Detroit opens, Tigers beat Cleveland Indians 6-5

1914 18th Boston Marathon won by Canadian James Duffy in 2:25:01.2

April 19 Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos!

Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2022 April 19

Stars and Globules in the Running Chicken Nebula

Image Credit & Copyright: Stefan Steve Bemmerl

Explanation: The eggs from this gigantic chicken may form into stars. The featured emission nebula, shown in scientifically assigned colors, is cataloged as IC 2944 but known as the Running Chicken Nebula for the shape of its greater appearance. Seen toward the bottom of the image are small, dark molecular clouds rich in obscuring cosmic dust. Called Thackeray’s Globules for their discoverer, these “eggs” are potential sites for the gravitational condensation of new stars, although their fates are uncertain as they are also being rapidly eroded away by the intense radiation from nearby young stars. Together with patchy glowing gas and complex regions of reflecting dust, these massive and energetic stars form the open cluster Collinder 249. This gorgeous skyscape spans about 60 light-years at the nebula’s estimated 6,500 light-year distance.

April 19 Today In History

Today’s Important Historical Events

1770 British explorer Captain James Cook first sights Australia. Writes in his log book that “what we have as yet seen of this land appears rather low, and not very hilly, the face of the Country green and Woody, but the Sea shore is all a white Sand.”

1775 American Revolution begins in Lexington, Massachusetts. The “Shot Heard Round the World” takes place later that day in Concord

1909 Joan of Arc receives beatification by the Roman Catholic Church

1995 Oklahoma City bombing, Timothy McVeigh sets a truck bomb at Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, killing 168 and injuring 500

2011 Fidel Castro resigns his position of First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba after 45 years of holding the title [1]

Today’s Historical Events

607 Comet 1P/607 H1 (Halley) approaches within 0.0898 AUs of Earth

1012 Martyrdom of Alphege in Greenwich, London

1451 Alam Shah of Delhi resigns throne

1524 Pope Clemens VII fires Neth inquisitor-general French Van de Holly

1539 Charles, protestant German monarch, signs Treaty of Frankrfurt

1552 Mauritius of Saksen captures Karel

1591 Chartres surrenders to King Henry IV in France

1619 Theatrum Anatomicum opens in Amsterdam

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1927 Actress Mae West found guilty of “obscenity and corrupting the morals of youth” in a New York stage play entitled “Sex”. She is sentenced to 10 days in prison and fined $500, the resulting publicity launches her Hollywood career.

1934 Shirley Temple appears in her 1st feature length film, “Stand Up & Cheer”

1948 American Broadcasting Company (ABC) TV network debuts

1953 WAFB TV channel 9 in Baton Rouge, LA (CBS) begins broadcasting

1967 “Casino Royale” James Bond comedy film starring David Niven and Peter Sellers premieres. Based on the Ian Fleming novel.

1971 Charles Manson sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Sharon Tate

1973 Barbra Streisand records “Between Yesterday & Tomorrow”

1990 Marla Maples appears on ABC’s Prime-Time

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1774 CW Glucks opera “Iphigenia in Aulis” premieres in Paris

1877 Opera “Les Cloches de Cornerville” is produced (Paris)

1894 Jules Massenet‘s opera “Werther” premieres in NYC

1919 Opera “Monsieur Beaucaire” is produced (London)

1924 “National Barn Dance” premieres on WLS Chicago

1945 Rodgers & Hammerstein’s musical “Carousel” opens at the Majestic Theatre, NYC; runs for 890 performances

1951 “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 267 performances

1963 “Hot Spot” opens at Majestic Theater NYC for 43 performances

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1897 1st Boston Marathon (B.A.A. Road Race), won by John J. McDermott in 2:55:10; the world’s oldest annual marathon inspired by success of the first marathon at the 1896 Summer Olympics

1900 Highest scoring opening game, Phils beat Braves 19-17 in 10

1909 13th Boston Marathon won by Henri Renaud in 2:53:36.8

1915 19th Boston Marathon won by Canadian Édouard Fabre in 2:31:41.2

1920 24th Boston Marathon won by Peter Trivoulidas of Greece in 2:29:31

1926 30th Boston Marathon won by Canadian Johnny Miles in 2:25:40.4

1928 Yanks are out of 1st place for 1st time since May 1926

1937 41st Boston Marathon won by Walter Young of Canada in 2:33:20

April 18 Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2022 April 18

Stars and Planets over Portugal

Image Credit & Copyright: Miguel Claro (TWAN, Dark Sky Alqueva)

Explanation: The mission was to document night-flying birds — but it ended up also documenting a beautiful sky. The featured wide-angle mosaic was taken over the steppe golden fields in Mértola, Portugal in 2020. From such a dark location, an immediately-evident breathtaking glow arched over the night sky: the central band of our Milky Way galaxy. But this sky had much more. Thin clouds crossed the sky like golden ribbons. The planet Mars appeared on the far left, while the planets Saturn and Jupiter were also simultaneously visible — but on the opposite side of the sky, here seen on the far right. Near the top of the image the bright star Vega can be found, while the far-distant and faint Andromeda Galaxy can be seen toward the left, just below Milky Way’s arch. As the current month progresses, several planets are lining up in the pre-dawn sky: Jupiter, Venus, Mars, and Saturn.

 

Did you know? Many APODs have links for adventure & humor

April 18 Today in History

Today’s Important Historical Events

1025 Bolesław Chrobry is crowned in Gniezno, becoming the first King of Poland

1506 The cornerstone of the current St. Peter’s Basilica is laid in the Vatican by Pope Julius II

1775 Paul Revere and William Dawes ride from Charlestown to Lexington warning the “regulars are coming!”

1783 American Revolution: George Washington issues General Order announcing the end of hostilities with Britain, giving thanks to the Almighty, and offering congratulations and authorizing an extra ration of alcohol to the troops to celebrate [1]

1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire kills nearly 4,000 while destroying 75% of the city

1954 Egyptian Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser seizes power and appoints himself Prime Minister

Today’s Historical Events

310 St Eusebius begins his reign as Catholic Pope

387 Bishop Ambrosius of Milan baptizes Augustinus

1025 Bolesław Chrobry is crowned in Gniezno, becoming the first King of Poland

1506 The cornerstone of the current St. Peter’s Basilica is laid in the Vatican by Pope Julius II

1518 Bona Sforza is crowned queen consort of Poland

1521 Diet of Worms: Cardinal Alexander questions Martin Luther

1552 Mauritius of Saksen occupies Linz

1663 Osman declares war on Austria

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1930 BBC news announcer announces “there is no news” at 20:45 news bulletin, plays music instead

1944 Leonard Bernstein & Jerome Robbins‘ ballet “Fancy Free” premieres in NYC

1969 Greek actress and activist Melina Mercouri establishes Greek Aid Fund

1979 “Real People” premieres on NBC TV

1988 Barbra Streisand records “Warm All Over”

1994 Arsenio Hall announces he will end his show in May 1994

1998 51st British Film and Television Awards (BAFTAS): “The Full Monty” Best Film, Baz Luhrmann Best Director

2004 50th British Academy Television Awards: “Little Britain” Best Comedy, “Buried” Best Drama

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1946 Rome, Auerbach and Horwitt’s musical “Call Me Mister” opens at National Theater NYC for 734 performances

1951 “Make a Wish” opens at Winter Garden Theater NYC for 102 performances

1953 “Pal Joey” closes at Broadhurst Theater NYC after 542 performances

1955 “Ankles Aweigh” opens at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC for 176 performances

1964 Albert Hague and Marty Brill’s musical “Cafe Crown”, starring Theodore Bikel, closes at Martin Beck Theater NYC after 3 performances

1964 “Foxy” closes at Ziegfeld Theater NYC after 72 performances

1972 “Lost in the Stars” based on the novel “Cry the Beloved Country” by Alan Paton opens at Imperial Theater NYC for 39 performances

1977 Musical revue “Side by Side by Sondheim” opens at Music Box, NYC for 390 performances

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1809 First run of 2,000 guineas horse race at Newmarket, England

1869 1st international cricket match, held in San Francisco, won by California

1898 2nd Boston Marathon won by Canadian Ron McDonald in race record 2:42:00

1904 8th Boston Marathon won by Michael Spring in 2:38:04.4

1908 Canadian champion Tommy Burns KOs Jewey Smith of England in 5th round at Neuilly Bowling Palace, Paris to retain his world heavyweight boxing title

1910 14th Boston Marathon won by Canadian Fred Cameron in 2:28:52.4

1918 Cleveland center fielder Tris Speaker turns an unassisted double play

1921 25th Boston Marathon won by Frank Zuna in race record 2:18:57.6

April 17 Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2022 April 17

Shuttle Over Earth

Image Credit: NASA, Expedition 22 Crew

Explanation: What’s that approaching? Astronauts on board the International Space Station in 2010 first saw it far in the distance. Soon it enlarged to become a dark silhouette. As it came even closer, the silhouette appeared to be a spaceship. Finally, the object revealed itself to be the Space Shuttle Endeavour, and it soon docked as expected with the Earth-orbiting space station. Pictured here, Endeavour was imaged near Earth’s horizon as it approached, where several layers of the Earth’s atmosphere were visible. Directly behind the shuttle is the mesosphere, which appears blue. The atmospheric layer that appears white is the stratosphere, while the orange layer is Earth’s Troposphere. Together, these thin layers of air — collectively spanning less than 2 percent of Earth‘s radius — sustain us all in many ways, including providing oxygen to breath and a barrier to dangerous radiations from space.

April 16 Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2022 April 16

{“SLSFrameType”:”Composite”,”Description”:”Made from 43 light frames. Algorithm: Min Horizon Noise”}

Orion Pines

Image Credit & Copyright: Juan Carlos Casado (Starry Earth, TWAN)

Explanation: Taken with a camera fixed to a tripod, many short exposures were aligned with the stars to unveil this beautiful, dark night sky. Captured near the rural village of Albany`a at the northeastern corner of Spain, the three stars of Orion’s belt stretch across top center in the starry frame. Alnitak, the easternmost (left) of the belt stars is seen next to the more diffuse glow of the Flame Nebula and the dark notch of the famous Horsehead. Easily visible to the naked-eye The Great Nebula of Orion is below the belt stars. A mere 1,500 light-years distant, it is the closest large stellar nursery to our fair planet. Best seen in photographs, the broad and faint arc of Barnard’s Loop seems to embrace Orion’s brighter stars and nebulae though. In the northern spring the familiar northern winter constellation is setting. Near the western horizon toward lower right Orion’s apparently bright blue supergiant Rigel just touches the branches of a pine tree.

April 16 Today in History

Today’s Important Historical Events

1457 BC Battle of Megiddo: Egyptian forces of Thutmose III defeat a large Canaanite coalition under King of Kadesh. First battle recorded with a reliable account.

1705 Queen Anne of England knights Isaac Newton at Trinity College, Cambridge

1746 Jacobite Rising 1745: Battle of Culloden, the last battle on British soil: Royalist troops under the Duke of Cumberland defeat the Jacobite army of Charles Edward Stuart

1900 US Post Office issues 1st books of postage stamps

1917 Vladimir Lenin issues his radical “April Theses” calling for Soviets to take power during the Russian Revolution [OS Apr 4]

1948 Organization for European Economic Cooperation (EEC) forms in Paris

2003 Treaty of Accession is signed in Athens admitting 10 new member states to the European Union

Today’s Historical Events

1457 BC Battle of Megiddo: Egyptian forces of Thutmose III defeat a large Canaanite coalition under King of Kadesh. First battle recorded with a reliable account.

1178 BC A solar eclipse may have marked the return of Odysseus, legendary King of Ithaca, to his kingdom after the Trojan War

73 Masada, a Jewish fortress, falls to the Romans after several months of siege, ending the Jewish Revolt

556 Pelagius I begins his reign as Catholic Pope

1071 Bari falls to Robert Guiscard’s Norman forces, ending Byzantine rule in Italy

1346 The Serbian Empire is proclaimed in Skopje at an Easter assembly and Stephen Uroš IV Dušan crowned Emperor over much of the Balkans

1395 Azzo X d’Este is defeated at the Battle of Portomaggiore by Venetian-Ferrarese troops

1509 French army under Louis XII enters the Alps

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1787 1st American comedy, “The Contrast,” makes its debut in NYC

1932 Short film “The Music Box” released in the US, starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy (1932 Academy Award Best Live Action Short Film)

1953 WAND TV channel 17 in Decatur, IL (ABC) begins broadcasting

1954 KVAL TV channel 13 in Eugene, OR (CBS) begins broadcasting

1958 5th National Film Awards (India): “Do Aankhen Barah Haath” wins the Golden Lotus

1962 Walter Cronkite begins anchoring CBS Evening News

1978 NBC’s premiere of miniseries “Holocaust”

1990 August Wilson‘s play “The Piano Lesson”, starring Charles S. Dutton, opens at Walter Kerr Theater NYC for 320 performances

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1849 Giacomo Meyerbeer’s opera “Le prophète” premieres in Paris

1854 Franz Liszt‘s symphonic poem “Mazeppa” premieres at the Court Theatre in Weimar

1940 Heitor Villa-Lobos’ opera “Izaht” premieres in Rio de Janeiro

1952 “4 Saints in 3 Acts” opens at Broadway Theater NYC for 15 performances

1959 “Party with Comden & Green” opens at John Golden NYC for 44 performances

1967 “Walking Happy” closes at Lunt Fontanne Theater NYC after 161 performances

1972 “That’s Entertainment” closes at Edison Theater NYC after 4 performances

1974 “Words & Music” opens at John Golden Theater NYC for 127 performances

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1900 4th Boston Marathon won by Canadian Jim Caffrey in race record 2:39:44.4

1906 10th Boston Marathon won by 18-year old Tim Ford in 2:45:45; youngest race winner

1912 Pirates turn a rare 5-3-7 doubleplay (left fielder covers 2nd base)

1917 21st Boston Marathon won by Bill Kennedy in 2:28:37.2

1923 27th Boston Marathon won by Clarence DeMar in 2:23:37.4 for second straight year; 3rd race victory

1928 32nd Boston Marathon won by Clarence DeMar in 2:37:07.8; back-to-back wins for his 6th race title

1929 New York Yankees become first MLB team to permanently feature numbers on backs of uniforms; numbers correspond to position in batting order

1934 38th Boston Marathon won by Dave Komonen of Canada in 2:32:53.8

April 15 Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2022 April 15

The Gator-back Rocks of Mars

Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, MSSS

Explanation: Wind-sharpened rocks known as ventifacts, cover this broad sloping plain in the foot hills of Mount Sharp, Gale crater, Mars. Dubbed gator-back rocks their rugged, scaly appearance is captured in these digitally stitched Mastcam frames from the Curiosity rover on mission sol 3,415 (March 15, 2022). Driving over gator-back rocks before has resulted in damage to the rover’s wheels, so Curiosity team members decided to turn around and take another path to continue the rover’s climb. Curiosity has been on an ascent of Gale crater’s central 5.5 kilometer high mountain since 2014. As it climbs, it’s been able to study layers shaped by water on Mars billions of years ago.

April 15 Today In History

Today’s Important Historical Events

1755 Samuel Johnson‘s “A Dictionary of the English Language” published in London

1861 Federal army (75,000 volunteers) mobilized by US President Abraham Lincoln (US Civil War)

1874 First ‘Impressionist’ exhibition opens in Paris, features Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro and Berthe Morisot

1877 Boston-Somerville installs the world’s 1st telephone in Massachusetts

1912 RMS Titanic sinks at 2:27 AM off Newfoundland as the band plays on, with the loss of between 1,490 and 1,635 people

Today’s Historical Events

69 Battle at Bedriacum, North-Italy

1205 Battle at Adrianople: Bulgaria beats Emp Boudouin of Constantinople

1250 Pope Innocent IV refuses Jews of Cordova, Spain their request to build a synagogue

1250 Kublai is acclaimed the Great Khan by a Mongol Great Council

1450 French defeat English at Battle of Formigny in 100 Years’ War

1493 -20/4] Columbus meets with the Spanish monarchs Isabella I and Ferdinand II in Barcelona

1528 Pánfilo the Narváez, Spanish conquistador arrives in Florida with 350 men to a hostile reception from native indians

1534 Thomas Cromwell is appointed Chief Secretary to King Henry VIII of England

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1948 KCPX (now KTVX) TV channel 4 in Salt Lake City, UT (ABC) 1st broadcast

1953 WHP TV channel 21 in Harrisburg, PA (CBS) begins broadcasting

1954 KARK TV channel 4 in Little Rock, AR (NBC) begins broadcasting

1954 WHO TV channel 13 in Des Moines, IA (NBC) begins broadcasting

1957 KTVI TV channel 2 in Saint Louis, MO (ABC) begins broadcasting

1958 10th Emmy Awards: Gunsmoke, Robert Young & Jane Wyatt win

1963 Steve Allen‘s musical “Sophie”, based on the life of American singer, and comic actress Sophie Tucker, opens at Winter Garden Theater, NYC; runs for 8 performances

1966 KHET TV channel 11 in Honolulu, HI (PBS) begins broadcasting

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1729 Johann Sebastian Bach‘s “St Matthew Passion” premieres in Leipzig

1738 Premiere in London of “Serse”, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel

1960 Guy Carawan sings “We Shall Overcome” to a Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in Raleigh – popularising the song as a protest anthem

1961 Meredith Willson’s musical “The Music Man”, starring Robert Preston and Barbara Cook, closes at Majestic Theater, NYC. after 1375 performances, 5 Tony Awards, and a Grammy

1966 The Rolling Stones release “Aftermath”, their fourth studio album in UK (6th in US)

1967 “Wait A Minim!” closes at John Golden Theater NYC after 457 performances

1970 “Cry for Us All” closes at Broadhurst Theater NYC after 8 performances

1971 “70, Girls, 70” opens at Broadhurst Theater NYC for 35 performances

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1896 1st modern Summer Olympic Games close in Athens, Greece; USA wins gold medal count, 11; Greece wins total medal count, 46; IOC has retroactively assigned gold, silver & bronze medals to 3 best placed athletes in each event

1901 5th Boston Marathon won for second straight year by Canadian Jim Caffrey in race record 2:29:23.6

1907 11th Boston Marathon won by Canadian Tom Longboat in race record 2:24:24

1910 William Howard Taft is first US President to throw out the 1st ball at a baseball game

1911 Walter Johnson pitches a record tying 4 strike outs in an inning

1912 16th Boston Marathon won by Mike Ryan in race record 2:21:18.2

1918 22nd Boston Marathon won by Camp Devens relay team; race run as relay for 10-man military teams

1925 NHL’s NY Americans (formerly Hamilton Tigers) 1st game, lose 3-1

April 13 Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2022 April 13

Milky Way over Devils Tower

Image Credit & Copyright: MaryBeth Kiczenski

Explanation: What created Devils Tower? The origin of this extraordinary rock monolith in Wyoming, USA is still debated, with a leading hypothesis holding that it is a hardened lava plume that never reached the surface to become a volcano. In this theory, the lighter rock that once surrounded the dense volcanic neck has now eroded away, leaving the dramatic tower. Known by Native Americans by names including Bear’s Lodge and Great Gray Horn, the dense rock includes the longest hexagonal columns known, some over 180-meters tall. High above, the central band of the Milky Way galaxy arches across the sky. Many notable sky objects are visible, including dark strands of the Pipe Nebula and the reddish Lagoon Nebula to the tower’s right. Green grass and trees line the foreground, while clouds appear near the horizon to the tower’s left. Unlike many other international landmarks, mountaineers are permitted to climb Devils Tower.

 

Birthday Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday? (post 1995)

April 11 Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2022 April 11

A Space Station Crosses a Busy Sun

Image Credit & Copyright: Wang Letian (Eyes at Night)

Explanation: Typically, the International Space Station is visible only at night. Slowly drifting across the night sky as it orbits the Earth, the International Space Station (ISS) can be seen as a bright spot several times a year from many locations. The ISS is then visible only just after sunset or just before sunrise because it shines by reflected sunlight — once the ISS enters the Earth’s shadow, it will drop out of sight. The only occasion when the ISS is visible during the day is when it passes right in front of the Sun. Then, it passes so quickly that only cameras taking short exposures can visually freeze the ISS’s silhouette onto the background Sun. The featured picture did exactly that — it is actually a series of images taken earlier this month from Beijing, China with perfect timing. This image series was later combined with separate images taken at nearly the same time but highlighting the texture and activity on the busy Sun. The solar activity included numerous gaseous prominences seen around the edge, highlighted in red, filaments seen against the Sun’s face, and a dark sunspot.

April 11 Today In History

Today’s Important Historical Events

1512 Battle of Ravenna: French forces under Gaston de Foix defeat the Holy League in a major battle of the Italian Wars

1783 Hostilities formally cease in the American Revolutionary War

1814 Napoleon Bonaparte abdicates unconditionally and he is exiled to the island of Elba in the Mediterranean

1868 The Shogunate is abolished in Japan

1955 Chartered Air India plane the “Kashmir Princess” is bombed and crashes into the South China Sea in a failed assassination attempt on Zhou Enlai by a Kuomintang secret agent

1968 US President Lyndon B. Johnson signs 1968 Civil Rights Act

1979 Tanzanian army captures Kampala, the capital of Uganda forcing Ugandan dictator Idi Amin to flee into exile in Libya

2015 Barack Obama and Raúl Castro meet in Panama, the 1st meeting of US and Cuban heads of state since the Cuban Revolution

2019 Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir overthrown and arrested by the army in Khartoum after 29 years in power

Today’s Historical Events

491 Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine Emperor, as Anastasius I – often called the first Byzantine Emperor

672 Deusdedit II begins his reign as Catholic Pope

1079 Bishop Stanislaus of Krakow is executed by order of Bolesław II of Poland

1471 Wars of the Roses: King Edward IV of England seizes London from Henry VI

1512 Battle of Ravenna: French forces under Gaston de Foix defeat the Holy League in a major battle of the Italian Wars

1551 English premier John Dudley appointed Duke of Northumberland

1564 England & France sign Peace of Troyes

1564 Liege prince-bishop Robert van Bergen resigns

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1955 “Marty” directed by Delbert Mann and starring Ernest Borgnine and Betsy Blair premieres in New York (Best Picture 1956)

1966 Frank Sinatra records “Strangers in the Night” single for his album of the same name. Later reaches #1 Billboard charts

1967 Tom Stoppard‘s play “Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead” debuts in London at the Old Vic

1968 WHED TV channel 15 in Hanover, NH (PBS) begins broadcasting

1971 WBFF TV channel 45 in Baltimore, MD (IND) begins broadcasting

1983 3rd Golden Raspberry Awards: “Inchon!” wins

1983 55th Academy Awards: “Gandhi”, Ben Kingsley & Meryl Streep win

1988 60th Academy Awards: “The Last Emperor”, Michael Douglas & Cher win

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1830 Robert Schumann hears the violinist Paganini play in Frankfurt

1888 The Concertgebouw in Amsterdam is inaugurated

1936 Rodgers & Hart’s musical “On Your Toes” premieres in NYC

1956 Singer Nat Cole attacked on stage of Birmingham theater in racial incident

1959 Yip Harburg, Fred Saidy, and Harold Arlen’s musical “Jamaica”, starring Lena Horne, closes at Imperial Theater NYC after 558 performances

1961 Bob Dylan makes his 1st appearance at Folk City, Greenwich Village, New York City

1964 Stephen Sondheim‘s musical “Anyone Can Whistle” closes at Majestic Theater, NYC, after 9 performances

1967 “Illya Darling” opens at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC for 320 performances

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1750 Jack Slack retains Champion of England boxing title, beats Frenchman Jean Petit in 7 rounds in Harlston, England; acknowledged as first international prize fight

1831 The 12th century Lewis chess pieces are exhibited at the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, shortly after their rediscovery in a sand bank on the Scottish Isle of Lewis

1896 Hungarian swimmer Alfréd Hajós beats Otto Herschmann of Austria by 0.6s to win the inaugural Olympic 100m freestyle final in 1:22.2 at the Athens Games; also takes out the 1,200m on the same day

1896 Irish tennis player John Boland, representing Great Britain wins both the men’s singles and doubles finals at the Athens Olympics; Dionysios Kasdaglis of Greece loses both matches

1907 New York Giants future Baseball Hall of Fame backstop Roger Bresnahan becomes first catcher to wear shin guards

1921 KDKA broadcast 1st radio sporting event, a boxing match (Ray-Dundee)

1924 1st men’s college swimming championships begin

1936 Stanley Cup Final, Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, ON: Detroit Red Wings beat Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-2 for a 3-1 series win; Red Wings first SC Championship

April 10 Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2022 April 10

Shadows at the Moon’s South Pole

Image Credit: NASA, Arizona State U., Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

Explanation: Was this image of the Moon’s surface taken with a microscope? No — it’s a multi-temporal illumination map made with a wide-angle camera. To create it, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft collected 1,700 images over a period of 6 lunar days (6 Earth months), repeatedly covering an area centered on the Moon’s south pole from different angles. The resulting images were stacked to produce the featured map — representing the percentage of time each spot on the surface was illuminated by the Sun. Remaining convincingly in shadow, the floor of the 19-kilometer diameter Shackleton crater is seen near the map’s center. The lunar south pole itself is at about 9 o’clock on the crater’s rim. Crater floors near the lunar south and north poles can remain in permanent shadow, while mountain tops can remain in nearly continuous sunlight. Useful for future outposts, the shadowed crater floors could offer reservoirs of water-ice, while the sunlit mountain tops offer good locations to collect solar power.

April 10 Today In History

Today’s Important Historical Events

1407 Lama Deshin Shekpa visits the Ming Dynasty capital at Nanjing and is awarded the title Great Treasure Prince of Dharma

1516 1st Jewish ghetto established: Venice compels Jews to live in a specific area

1815 Mount Tambora in the Dutch East Indies experiences a cataclysmic eruption, one of the most powerful in history, killing around 71,000 people, causes global volcanic winter

1858 “Big Ben”, a 13.76 tonne bell, is recast at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry

1972 US, USSR & 70 other nations agree to ban biological weapons

1998 The Good Friday Agreement [Belfast Agreement] for Northern Ireland is signed by the British and Irish governments

Today’s Historical Events

837 Comet 1P/837 F1 (Halley) approaches within 0.0334 AUs of Earth

847 St Leo IV begins his reign as Catholic Pope

879 Louis III becomes King of West Francia

1407 Lama Deshin Shekpa visits the Ming Dynasty capital at Nanjing and is awarded the title Great Treasure Prince of Dharma

1500 France captures duke Ludovico Sforza of Milan

1516 1st Jewish ghetto established: Venice compels Jews to live in a specific area

1552 Henri II of France occupies Metz

1589 Spanish troops conquer Geertruidenberg

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1953 “House of Wax” 1st color 3-D movie, premieres in New York

1954 KRGV TV channel 5 in Weslaco, TX (ABC) begins broadcasting

1956 Philips broadcasts 1st Dutch color TV programs

1957 “12 Angry Men”, directed by Sidney Lumet, starring Henry Fonda and Lee J. Cobb, is released

1967 39th Academy Awards: “A Man For All Seasons,” Best Picture, Elizabeth Taylor & Paul Scofield best actress/actor

1968 Musical “George M!”, based on the life of Broadway star George M. Cohan, opens at Palace Theater NYC for 435 performances

1968 40th Academy Awards: “In the Heat of the Night”, Rod Steiger & Katherine Hepburn win

1972 44th Academy Awards: “The French Connection”, Gene Hackman & Jane Fonda win

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1868 1st performance of Johannes Brahms‘ “A German Requiem”

1935 Vaughan Williams’ 4th Symphony premieres in London

1970 Paul McCartney officially announces the split of The Beatles

1986 “Big Deal” opens at Broadway Theater NYC for 70 performances

1989 24th Academy of Country Music Awards: Hank Williams Jr, George Strait, and K.T. Oslin win

1994 “Les Miserables” opens at Hiten Theatre, Osaka

1995 “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” opens at Lyceum Theater NYC for 24 performances

2006 40th CMT Music Awards: Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood & Kenny Chesney win

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1874 British Open Men’s Golf, Musselburgh Links: Mungo Park wins first title by 2 strokes from Tom Morris Jr

1887 Soccer team Be Quick forms in Hairs Groningen

1896 Spyridon Louis of Greece wins inaugural Olympic marathon (2:58:50) in Athens; runs last lap accompanied by Constantine I

1896 High jumper Ellery Clark leads an American sweep of the placings with a leap of 1.81m at the Athens Olympics; his 2nd victory of the Games after taking out the long jump

1896 American athlete Thomas Burke claims the sprint double at the Athens Olympics winning the 100m final in 12.0s; his 2nd victory of the Games after success in the 400m

1913 President Woodrow Wilson throws out 1st ball, Senators beat Yankees 2-1

1913 New York Highlanders play first MLB game as the New York Yankees; lose to the Washington Senators, 2-1 at Griffith Stadium

1916 The Professional Golfers Association of America (PGA) is founded in New York City

April 9 Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2022 April 9

mars_saturn

Mars-Saturn Conjunction

Image Credit & Copyright: Damian Peach

Explanation: Fainter stars in the zodiacal constellation Capricornus are scattered near the plane of the ecliptic in this field of view. The two brightest ones at center aren’t stars at all though, but the planets Mars and Saturn. Taken on the morning of April 4, the telescopic snapshot captured their tantalizing close conjunction in a predawn sky, the pair of planets separated by only about 1/3 of a degree. That’s easily less than the apparent width of a Full Moon. Can you tell which planet is which? If you guessed Mars is the redder one , you’d be right. Above Mars, slightly fainter Saturn still shines with a paler yellowish tinge in reflected sunlight. Even at the low magnification, Saturn’s largest and brightest moon Titan can be spotted hugging the planet very closely on the left.

 

April 8 Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2022 April 8

Hale-Bopp: The Great Comet of 1997

Image Credit & Copyright: Stefan Seip (TWAN)

Explanation: Only twenty-five years ago, Comet Hale-Bopp rounded the Sun and offered a dazzling spectacle in planet Earth’s night skies. Digitized from the original astrophoto on 35mm color slide film, this classic image of the Great Comet of 1997 was recorded a few days after its perihelion passage on April 1, 1997. Made with a camera and telephoto lens piggy-backed on a small telescope, the 10 minute long, hand-guided exposure features the memorable tails of Hale-Bopp, a whitish dust tail and blue ion tail. Here, the ion tail extends well over ten degrees across the northern sky. In all, Hale-Bopp was reported as visible to the naked eye from late May 1996 through September 1997. Also known as C/1995 O1, Hale-Bopp is recognized as one of the most compositionally pristine comets to pass through the inner Solar System. A visitor from the distant Oort cloud, the comet’s next perihelion passage should be around the year 4380 AD. Do you remember Hale-Bopp?