Wikipedia:Main Page history/2021 May 16b

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Apollo 7 (October 11–22, 1968) was the first crewed flight in NASA's Apollo program. It was commanded by Wally Schirra, with command module pilot Donn F. Eisele and lunar module pilot R. Walter Cunningham, and saw the resumption of human spaceflight by the agency after the fire that killed the three Apollo 1 astronauts in January 1967. Determined to prevent a repetition of the fire, the crew spent long periods of time monitoring the construction of their Apollo command and service module (CSM). After liftoff on October 11, 1968, extensive testing of the CSM took place, along with testing of techniques to be used on lunar missions, and also the first live television broadcast from an American spacecraft. Despite tension between the crew and ground controllers, the mission was a complete technical success, giving NASA the confidence to send Apollo 8 into orbit around the Moon two months later, but in part because of those tensions, no member of the crew flew in space again. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Florence Jepperson Madsen

... that Florence Jepperson Madsen (pictured) directed choirs of over 500 "Singing Mothers" for annual Relief Society conferences?
... that in 2012, French women's football club Arras FCF were promoted to the country's top division and reached the semi-finals of the French Cup?
... that Johnny Peirson signed with the Boston Bruins to earn some extra money for his education at McGill University?
... that a Colorado policeman laughingly told coworkers "Ready for the pop? ... I think it was her shoulder" as they watched footage of a handcuffed 73-year-old being forced to the ground and hogtied?
... that Walter Donaldson, a two-time World Snooker Champion, converted his snooker room into a cowshed and used the slate from his billiard table for paving?
... that the creators of the Indian web series His Storyy changed the ending because of prevailing social discrimination against the LGBTQIA+ community in the country?
... that Ora Nichols was the first woman to run a radio sound effects unit?
... that The Kiffness satirised the South African national anthem as a protest against the ban on cigarette sales during the COVID-19 pandemic?

In the news

Security forces enter after school shooting.

The China National Space Administration's Tianwen-1 lander-rover vehicle successfully lands on Mars.
In association football, Manchester City win the Premier League.
A school shooting (security response pictured) in Kazan, Russia, leaves nine people dead.
Clashes between Israelis and Palestinians, escalating to airstrikes and rocket attacks, kill more than a hundred people and injure several hundred others.

On this day

May 16

Shield nickel

1832 – Prospector Juan Godoy found a silver outcrop in Chañarcillo, sparking the Chilean silver rush.
1866 – The United States Congress authorized the minting of the Shield nickel (example pictured), the country's first five-cent piece to be made of a copper–nickel alloy.
1943 – Second World War: The Royal Air Force's "Dambusters" squadron embarked on an attack on German dams using bouncing bombs designed by Barnes Wallis.
1961 – Led by Park Chung-hee, the Military Revolution Committee carried out a bloodless coup against the government of Yun Posun in Seoul, ending the Second Republic of Korea.
1975 – Japanese climber Junko Tabei became the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

Liu Bowen (d. 1375)
Maria Gaetana Agnesi (b. 1718)
Janet Jackson (b. 1966)

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Today's featured picture

Daniel Manning (May 16, 1831 – December 24, 1887) was an American businessman, journalist, and politician. He became chairman of the New York Democratic committee in 1881, resigning in 1885 when he was appointed as the 37th United States secretary of the treasury by President Grover Cleveland. He retired two years later due to health issues, and died the same year at his home in Albany, New York. This engraved portrait of Manning was created by the Department of the Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) for a BEP presentation album.

Engraving credit: Bureau of Engraving and Printing; restored by Andrew Shiva

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