START treaty signed to reduce nuclear weapons by 35%. Ranger 7 probe sent first photos of lunar surface. NYSE closed during WWI, first US patent filed, “Son of Sam” kills victim, Phoenix Mars lander finds water, Mt. Fuji erupts, Daniel Defoe pilloried, NASA gives up on finding water on moon, Alcatraz escape attempt fails, F4 tornado kills 27 in Edmonton.
The United States and the Soviet Union signed START, a treaty that would reduce nuclear weapons by 35%. (1991) It took nine years to negotiate the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). The Soviet Union collapsed before the treaty was ratified, so it didn’t go into effect until December 1994. The treaty’s conditions, to reduce nuclear weapons by 35% over seven years, were finally met in 2001.
The first photos of the lunar surface were transmitted by NASA’s Ranger 7 probe. (1964) The spacecraft carried six cameras that sent 4,308 photos over a 68.6-year period before it crashed on the moon. The total cost of the mission was approximately US$170 million.
The New York Stock Exchange closed when World War I broke out. (1914) Did not resume trading until December of that year. It was the only time since its inception in 1817 that the trade ceased for an extended period.
First US patent filed. (1790) The patent holder was Samuel Hopkins and the patent was for potash, potassium carbonate. Since then, over 6 million patents have been granted by the US PTO.
Serial killer “Son of Sam” has killed his latest victim. (1977) David Richard Berkowitz killed Stacy Moskowitz and wounded her boyfriend while they were sitting in a parked car on a date in Brooklyn, New York. Less than two weeks later, Berkowitz was arrested. He is serving a 25-year life sentence for killing six people.
NASA’s Phoenix Mars lander has found water on Mars. (2008) The spacecraft transmitted photos and test results from ice found on the surface of Mars. Liquid water cannot exist on most of the planet’s surface due to low atmospheric pressure. The discovery of the water caused a media fuss about the possibility that life had been detected on Mars – NASA quickly quashed these rumors.
The oldest recorded eruption of Mt. Fugi in Japan occurred. (781) m. Fugi is Japan’s tallest mountain, measuring 12,388 feet (3,776 meters). Since the recorded eruption in 781, there have only been 15 more and none since 1708.
Daniel Defoe was pilloried as punishment for libel. (1703) Defoe had written a pamphlet, The Shortest Way with Dissenters, which satirized the High Church. Public punishment usually involved the offender being pelted with stones; in Defoe’s case, he was pelted with flowers by a sympathetic audience.
NASA has given up on looking for water on the moon. (1999) The Lunar Prospector mission mapped the moon’s surface and searched for the polar ice caps. On this day, NASA crashed the vehicle into the lunar south pole of the lunar surface in a last-ditch attempt to find water. The mission was launched on January 7, 1998 and cost US$62.8 million.
John K. Giles attempted to escape from Alcatraz. (1945) Alcatraz is a maximum security prison on an island off the coast of San Francisco in California. Giles’ escape attempt was unsuccessful. In the prison’s 29-year history, 14 escape attempts have been made and none were successful.
An F4 class tornado killed 27 people in Edmonton, Alberta. (1987) Tornado touched down for an hour, killing 27, injuring more than 300, and destroying 300 homes. Damage was estimated at US$330 million.
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