Daily Archives: April 12, 2021

NASA’s first space shuttle rockets into orbit with two astronauts aboard 40 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Apr 12 1981)

1980s, space exploration


Video: 'NBC News Coverage of STS-1 The 1st Space Shuttle Mission' (25 videos; launch is on video #6 at 3:07)

(Sunday, April 12, 1981, 7:00:03 a.m. EST) — The world’s first reusable spacecraft, the space shuttle Columbia, with two crew members, astronauts John W. Young and Robert L. Crippen, lifted off this morning from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, at the Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida.
Continue reading NASA’s first space shuttle rockets into orbit with two astronauts aboard 40 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Apr 12 1981) →

American Civil War begins as Confederate troops fire on Fort Sumter in South Carolina’s Charleston Harbor 160 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Apr 12 1861)

1860s, American Civil War, U.S. Presidents


Video: 'Fort Sumter: Animated Battle Map'

(Friday, April 12, 1861, 4:30 a.m. local time; during the Battle of Fort Sumter, part of the American Civil War) — The American Civil War, a civil war fought between northern states loyal to the Union and southern states that had seceded to preserve the enslavement of black people, began early today when secessionist forces attacked Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina.
Continue reading American Civil War begins as Confederate troops fire on Fort Sumter in South Carolina’s Charleston Harbor 160 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Apr 12 1861) →

Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes first human blasted into outer space 60 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Apr 12 1961)

1960s, Cold War, space exploration


Video: 'Yuri Gagarin: First Man In Space | Chasing the Moon | American Experience | PBS'

(Wednesday, April 12, 1961, at 12:07 p.m. Alma-Ata Time; during the Space Race and the Cold War) — Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, 27, became the first human to go into outer space today, launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome Site No.1, a spaceport in an area of southern Kazakhstan leased to Russia, aboard the Vostok 1 spacecraft.
Continue reading Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes first human blasted into outer space 60 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Apr 12 1961) →