The History Shack

Back in the 1960s, NASA had just nailed the whole "landing on the Moon" thing with the Apollo program. But they were already dreaming bigger. What if we could hang out in space for a while? That dream turned into Skylab, America's first space station, which was as cool as it sounds. The idea started with many NASA engineers thinking, "Hey, we've got all these Apollo rockets and parts. Why not use them to build a space station?" Thus, the Apollo Applications Program was born. The goal was to use leftover Apollo gear to create an orbital workshop where astronauts could live, work, and do crazy experiments. Of course, it wasn’t all smooth sailing. There were money issues, technical glitches, and a million little details to work out. But by the late 1960s, Skylab was coming together. It was basically a big, floating cylinder with living quarters, a lab, and giant solar panels to keep everything powered up. It was designed to host astronauts for long stretches so

  OTD May 14th is the one-hundred-thirty-fourth day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 231 days remain until the end of the year.   Events 1097 – The Siege of Nicaea begins during the First Crusade. 1607 – English colonists established "James Fort," which would become Jamestown, Virginia, the earliest permanent English settlement in the Americas. 1796 – Edward Jenner administers the first smallpox vaccination. 1804 – William Clark and 42 men depart from Camp Dubois to join Meriwether Lewis at St Charles, Missouri, marking the beginning of the Lewis and Clark Expedition's historic journey up the Missouri River. 1836 – The Treaties of Velasco are signed in Velasco, Texas. 1878 – The last witchcraft trial held in the United States begins in Salem, Massachusetts, after Lucretia Brown, an adherent of Christian Science, accused Daniel Spofford of attempting to harm her through his mental powers. 1900 – Opening the World Amateur Championship at the Paris

  OTD May 13th is the one-hundred-sixteenth day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 233 days remain until the end of the year.   Events 1501 – Amerigo Vespucci set sail for western lands, this time under the Portuguese flag. 1654 – A Venetian fleet under Admiral Cort Adeler breaks through a line of galleys and defeats the Turkish navy. 1780 – The Cumberland Compact was signed by leaders of the settlers in the Cumberland River area of what would become the U.S. state of Tennessee, providing for democratic government and a formal justice system. 1830 – Ecuador gains its independence from Gran Colombia 1861 – The Great Comet of 1861 is discovered by John Tebbutt of Windsor, New South Wales, Australia. 1912 – The Royal Flying Corps, the forerunner of the Royal Air Force, was established in the United Kingdom. 1917 – Three children report the first apparition of Our Lady of Fátima in Fátima, Portugal. 1943 – World War II: Operations Vulcan and Strike force the surre

 When Winston Churchill stood before the British House of Commons on May 13, 1940, to deliver his first speech as Prime Minister, the world was teetering on the brink of darkness. Europe was already embroiled in the throes of World War II, with Nazi Germany's forces rapidly advancing across the continent. The fall of France was imminent, and the British Expeditionary Force was struggling on the continent. The situation was dire, and the mood among the British public and government was tense, uncertain, and fearful. Churchill's ascension to Prime Minister came after the resignation of Neville Chamberlain, whose policy of appeasement had failed to curb Adolf Hitler's aggression. There was a palpable need for starkly realistic yet defiantly optimistic leadership. Churchill, known for his oratorical skills and bulldog spirit, stepped into this void with a speech that was less a promise of easy victory and more a clarion call for endurance and courage. His speech, laden with the

  OTD May 11 is the 131st day of the year, 234 days remain until the end of the year. Events 1812 – Prime Minister Spencer Perceval is assassinated by John Bellingham in the lobby of the British House of Commons. 1813 – William Lawson, Gregory Blaxland, and William Wentworth discover a route across the Blue Mountains, opening inland Australia to settlement. 1880 – Seven people are killed in the Mussel Slough Tragedy, a gun battle in California. 1997 – Deep Blue, a chess-playing supercomputer, defeats Garry Kasparov in the last rematch game, becoming the first computer to beat a world-champion chess player in a classic match format. 2011 – An earthquake of magnitude 5.1 hits Lorca, Spain. Birthdays 1752 – Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, German physician, physiologist, and anthropologist (d. 1840) 1888 – Irving Berlin, Belarusian-American pianist and composer (d. 1989) 1894 – Martha Graham, American dancer and choreographer (d. 1991) 1904 – Salvador Dalí, Spanish artist (d. 1989) 1941 – Eri

  OTD May 12th is the one-hundred-fifteenth day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 234 days remain until the end of the year.   Events 1588 – French Wars of Religion: Henry III of France flees Paris after Henry I, Duke of Guise, enters the city, and a spontaneous uprising occurs. 1593 – London playwright Thomas Kyd is arrested and tortured by the Privy Council for libel. 1780—American Revolutionary War: British forces took Charleston, South Carolina in the Continental Army's most significant defeat. 1846 – The Donner Party of Pioneers departs Independence, Missouri, for California on a year-long journey of hardship and cannibalism. 1926 – The Italian-built airship Norge became the first to fly over the North Pole. 1949 – Cold War: The Soviet Union lifts its blockade of Berlin.   Birthdays 1755 – Giovanni Battista Viotti, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1824) 1812 – Edward Lear, English poet and illustrator (d. 1888) 1850 – Henry Cabot Lodge, Ameri