1799
Andrew Ellicott Douglass made the earliest known record of a meteor shower observed in the United States, the Leonids meteor shower. Douglass, who made his observations aboard a ship off the coast of Florida Keys, wrote that "In every instant the meteors were as numerous as the stars," and that the "whole heaven appeared as if illuminated with sky rockets, flying in an infinity of directions, and I was in constant expectation of some of them falling on the vessel. They continued until put out by the light of the sun after day break."
1833
The Leonid Meteor Shower was recorded. Observers reported that the millions of meteors seemed to radiate from the constellation Leo, even as the constellation moved westward. Mathematician Denison Olmsted will later prove that the shower's radiant point was simply a visual effect of perspective.
1964
The Soviet spacecraft Voskhod 1 was launched. It was the first space mission in history to carry more than one crew member into space, the first space mission to be flown without flight suits, and the first space mission to be crewed by both a physician and scientist into space. During the mission, the Voskhod 1 would reach a record-setting altitude of 209 miles. The mission had, in fact, been timed to reach the record-setting altitude ahead of NASA's Gemini program.
1966
The first photograph from the Gemini XII was taken. The series of photographs of the Earth that were returned would be iconic to an entire generation.
1980
The NASA space probe Voyager I passed within seventy-seven thousand miles of Saturn's southern pole on its nearest approach to the planet. It later transmitted photos of Saturn’s rings back to NASA over the nearly billion miles the probe had traveled.
1981
The Space Shuttle Columbia became the first manned reusable spacecraft to be launched on a second mission when it was launched from Cape Canaveral. (STS-2)
1984
Aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery, Astronaut Joseph Allen preformed the first salvage
operation in outer space when he retrieved the thirty-five million dollar Palapa B-2 communication satellite.
1994
NASA's Magellan space probe burns up in the atmosphere of the planet Venus after a successful four year mission in orbit. It was the first space probe to use aerobraking techniques to lower itself in orbit.