This Day In History : January 21

2006 United States

NASA's The Mars Rover Spirit Ran into a Major Problem

The rover ran into a major problem Jan. 21, 2004, when NASA’s Deep Space Network lost contact. Due to a problem in Spirit’s flash memory subsystem, the rover entered a fault mode. Fortunately, controllers were able to reformat the flash memory and send up a software patch (to preclude memory overload). Normal operations resumed Feb. 6.

Also on This Day in History January 21

Discover what happened on January 21 with HISTORY's summaries of major events, anniversaries,
famous births and notable deaths.

Births on This Day, January 21
  • 1857 Joseph Paxson Iddings

    American geologist who advanced understanding in the field of petrology - the study of the origin, composition, structure, and alteration of rocks.

  • 1874 René-Louis Baire

    French mathematician whose study of irrational numbers and whose concept to divide the notion of continuity into upper and lower semi-continuity greatly influenced the French School of Mathematics. 

  • 1908 Bengt Strömgren

    Bengt Georg Daniel Strömgren was a Danish astrophysicist who pioneered the present-day knowledge of the gas clouds in space.

  • 1887 Wolfgang Köhler

    Russo-German-American psychologist who significantly developed Gestalt psychology, in which learning, perception, and other mental processes were studied incorporated as part of a structured whole.

  • 1743 John Fitch

    American pioneer of steamboat transportation who produced serviceable steamboats before Robert Fulton.

Deaths on This Day, January 21
  • 1983 Solomon Spiegelman

    American microbiologist and geneticist who discovered that only one of two strands of molecules that make up DNA, carried the genetic information to produce new substances.

  • 1926 Camillo Golgi

    Italian physician and cytologist who, in 1873, published his key discovery, the use of silver salts to stain samples for microscope slides.

  • 1892 John Couch Adams

    English astronomer and mathematician, one of two people who independently discovered the planet Neptune.

  • 1930 Hugh Longbourne Callendar

    He was an English physicist who was famous for work in calorimetry, thermometry and especially, the thermodynamic properties of steam.

  • 1609 Joseph Justus Scaliger

    French scholar who was one of the founders of the science of chronology.

1941

Magnesium

In 1941, the commercial production of magnesium first began in the U.S. at Freeport, Texas. Magnesium, the lightest of all structural elements, was extracted from seawater through an electrolytic process.
1954

U.S.S. Nautilus, first nuclear submarine launched

In 1954, the first atomic submarine, the U.S.S. Nautilus, was launched at Groton, Connecticut. It was commissioned later in the year, on 30 Sep 1954.
1899

Opel Builds First Automobile, Pioneering Automotive Innovation

In 1899, Opel, a pioneering German automotive manufacturer, achieves a milestone by producing its first automobile, marking the beginning of its significant impact on the global automotive industry. This event lays the foundation for Opel's future innovations and contributions to mobility worldwide.
1915

Kiwanis International Founded in Detroit, Michigan

On January 21, 1915, Kiwanis International is established in Detroit, Michigan, as a global organization dedicated to community service and volunteerism. Since its founding, Kiwanis has grown to become a prominent force in humanitarian efforts worldwide, fostering leadership and fellowship among its members.
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