![]() Strange Meeting for War Poet Owen's Brother Soldier-poet Wilfred Owen was killed on this day in history – a death that his brother would sense in an extraordinary and inexplicable experience.Theatre Madness, But There’s Method In It Methodist church founder John Wesley wrote in his journal on this day of an astonishing night at the theatre when events almost literally brought the house down.So she kept it, and built a business that was to become famous in global retailing. WHSmith: a Retail Giant Born From a Widow's Might Nobody wanted to buy the little shop owned by 18th Century widow Anna Smith.Spirit Rover Begins Mars Mission The first color image compiled by photos from the Spirit rover - at the time the highest quality photo taken on another planet June 10, 2003.USS Challenger Explodes The Space Shuttle Challenger moments after it exploded above Cape Canveral on JanuJanuary 28, 1986.Apollo 11 Bootprint Buzz Aldrin's bootprint, one of the first steps taken on the Moon July 21, 1969.Lunar Landing Makes 'Giant Leap For Mankind' It was “one giant leap for mankind” as Neil Armstrong stepped from the ladder of his lunar module on this day to become the first man ever to walk on the Moon.1st Person to Walk in Space Soviet cosmonaut Alexey Leonov conducts the first spacewalk during the Voshkod 2 mission March 18, 1965.John Glenn Orbits Earth John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, getting into his spacecraft Friendship 7 in 1962 February 20, 1962.Far Side of the Moon Revealed The first ever photo of the far side of the Moon, taken by the Soviet spacecraft Luna 3 October 7, 1959.Dogs are supposed to be eaten, not carted around through space." ![]() One Vietnamese farmer was bewildered by it all. Over five months later, after 2,570 orbits, Sputnik II-including Laika's remains-disintegrated during re-entry on April 14, 1958. But after five to seven hours into the flight, all signs of life received from the spacecraft stopped. The spacecraft circled Earth every hour and 42 minutes, travelling at 18,000 mph. So what happened to Laika? Although Moscow long insisted that she expired painlessly after about a week in orbit, an official with the Institute for Biological Problems leaked the truth in 2002: Laika died from panic and overheating within hours of takeoff. “This has been done not for the sake of cruelty but for the benefit of humanity." Lady Munnings, wife of the Royal Academy's former President, Sir Alfred Munnings, demanded: “Instead of dogs, why not use child murderers, who just get life sentences and have a jolly good time in prison?"Īs protesting dog lovers massed outside the Russian Embassy in London, First Secretary Yuri Modin was forced to make a statement. The League Against Cruel Sports expressed "horror and contempt" for the behaviour of the Russians "beside which the sickening stories of the inhuman cruelties of the Middle Ages fade into insignificance."Īnd as the protests grew, the National Canine Defence League appealed for one minute of silence across the country at 11am every day. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was also threatened with telephonic meltdown until a quick-thinking employee told callers to "make your protest direct to the Soviet embassy” – and gave out the number. The BBC’s switchboard was jammed by irate callers even before an announcer had finished reading the news bulletin of the event. It also paved the way for furious protest across the world, nowhere more so than in Britain. The launch was designed to show that a living passenger could survive being thrust into orbit and endure micro-gravity, paving the way for space travel by humans. ![]() One of the technicians preparing her capsule said that "after placing Laika in the container and before closing the hatch, we kissed her nose and wished her bon voyage, knowing that she would not survive the flight." At the time there was no technology – or plans – to bring her back to Earth. Laika was a stray that had been picked up on the streets of Moscow.
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