What Happened on October 11?

  • The first manned Apollo mission was launched. (1968) NASA launched Apollo 7 with astronaut pilots R. Walter Cunningham and Donn Fulton Eisele, along with Commander Walter M. Shirra, Jr. This mission also was the first to feature a live TV broadcast. The astronauts spent more than 10 days in space — more than the combined total of all Soviet missions at that time — and orbited the Earth 163 times.

  • The Daughters of the American Revolution was founded. (1890) Founded in Washington D.C., the DAR has chapters around the world and in all 50 US states. They work to promote US patriotism and preserve history as well as raise money for educational scholarships. All members have a traceable ancestry lineage to someone who actively worked to achieve US independence.

  • US President Theodore Roosevelt became the first US President to ride in an airplane. (1910) President Roosevelt flew in a Wright Brother's plane for four minutes at an airfield in Missouri.

  • The first American woman walked in space. (1984) Astronaut and geologist Kathryn Sullivan flew aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger and was the first woman to participate in an extra-vehicular activity (EVA).

  • The first US Naval battle was fought during the American Revolution. (1776) The US Navy, which had been established the previous year as the Continental Navy, fought its first major battle — the Battle of Valcour Island. The battle was fought at Lake Champlain and lasted one day. Although the US troops lost the overall battle, it was a strategic win in that it allowed time for US forces to better defend New York.

  • The Dow Jones hit its highest point in US history. (2007) The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 14,198.10.

  • US President Jimmy Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. (2002) He was awarded the honor for his work in social and economic development around the world, his fight for human rights and democracy, and his work to find peaceful resolutions to international conflicts. He was the third US President to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

  • The school board in San Francisco provoked an international diplomatic crisis between the US and Japan. (1906) The school board decided to racially segregate Japanese students into separate schools.

  • The first steam-powered commuter ferry began operations. (1811) The Juliana, invented by John Stevens, ferried passengers back and forth from Hoboken, New Jersey, to New York City.

  • A blind man set a new land-speed record for blind driving. (2008) Luc Costermans, of Belgium, borrowed a Lamborghini Gallardo that was outfitted with special equipment to help him navigate the test run. Driving with a human co-pilot, Costermans drove 192 miles per hour (about 309 kilometers per hour) on an airstrip in France, breaking the previous blind driving record of 178.5 miles per hour (about 287 kilometers per hour), which had been set three years before.

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Discussion Comments

osa999

About the blind man who broke the speed record in the lamborghini: That co-pilot of his has got some nerve!

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