HISTORICAL EVENTS

• 1954: The U.S. Army opens the first nuclear power station at Shippingport, Pennsylvania.

• 1964: The Warren Commission releases its report, concluding that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

• 1996: Taliban forces seize control of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan.

• 2008: SpaceX launches the Falcon 1, becoming the first privately-funded liquid-fueled rocket to reach orbit.

• 2014: Hong Kong pro-democracy protests, also known as the “Umbrella Movement,” begin after China announces plans for strict control over Hong Kong’s elections.

SCIENTIFIC BREAKTHROUGHS

• 1825: George Stephenson successfully operates the first practical steam locomotive, the “Locomotion No. 1,” on the Stockton and Darlington Railway in England.

• 1942: The first successful controlled nuclear chain reaction is achieved by a team led by Enrico Fermi at the University of Chicago.

• 1998: The first robotic mission to Mars, NASA’s Mars Pathfinder, deploys the Sojourner rover and begins transmitting valuable scientific data back to Earth.

• 2007: NASA’s Dawn spacecraft is launched, embarking on a mission to study the protoplanet Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres.

• 2015: Scientists announce the discovery of liquid water on Mars, raising the possibility of potential microbial life on the planet.