Premier of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake (1877)
Almost 150 years ago, Swan Lake, a ballet was composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failure, it is now one of the most popular…
Happy Birthday Seal (1963)
Happy Birthday Seal, British singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born as Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Adeola Samuel on the 19th of February 1963 in Paddington, London, UK. Seal received three…
Happy Birthday Enzo Ferrari (1898)
Enzo Ferrari (18 February 1898 – 14 August 1988) was an Italian motor racing driver and entrepreneur, the founder of the Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team, and subsequently…
VW Beetle Breaks World Car Production Record (1972)
On 17 February 1972, the world car production record was broken by the Volkswagen Beetle, with a total of 15,007,034 units produced worldwide, thereby surpassing the production figure that had…
Canadian Pacific Railway is incorporated (1881)
The Canadian Pacific Railway is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated on the 16th of February 1881, 144 years ago. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited,…
First Publication of the Human Genome (2001)
Today we celebrate the publication of the human genome with an image of the super helix. On 15th February 2001 researchers published the first sequence-based map of large-scale structural variation…
Valentine’s Day
Today we celebrate Valentine’s Day, also called Saint Valentine’s Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honouring…
First Launch of the ESA Vega Rocket (2022)
Vega was an expendable small lift launch vehicle operated by Arianespace, produced by Avio, and jointly developed by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and the European Space Agency (ESA). Development…
Happy Birthday Louis Renault (1877)
Today we want to remember a great French pioneer of the automotive industry, Louis Renault. Renault was born on 12th of February 1877 in Fresnes Prison, Fresnes, France. He built…
Happy Birthday Burt Reynolds (1936)
Burt Reynolds was born as Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. on February 11, 1936, in Lansing, Michigan. As an American actor, most famous during the 1970s and 1980s. Reynolds played leading…
Deep Blue beats Garry Kasparov at Chess (1997)
Today 28 years ago an AI beat a world champion chess master for the first time. Deep Blue was a chess-playing expert system run on a unique purpose-built IBM supercomputer…
Budd unveils first self-propelled diesel multiple unit railcar (1978)
Budd unveiled the first SPV-2000, a self-propelled diesel multiple unit railcar, in Philadelphia on February 9th, 1978, and then sent it on a demonstration tour around the United States. The…
Skylab 4 Crew Returns to Earth (1974)
Today we remember the safe return of the Skylab 4 crew to earth, 51 years ago. On the 8th of February 1974 the crew splashed down in the Pacific. Skylab…
Happy Birthday Charles Dickens (1812)
Today we celebrate the 113th Birthday of one of Britain’s great classics – the short story writer, novelist, journalist, and social critic Charles Dickens. Born as Charles John Huffam Dickens…
Happy Birthday Bob Marley (1945)
Today we celebrate Bob Marley’s posthumous 80th Birthday. Born as Robert Nesta Marley on the 6th of February 1945 in Nine Mile, Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica the singer, songwriter and…
First broadcast of the Greenwich Time Signal, GTS (1924)
For the past 101 years BBC radio stations have been broadcasting a series of six short tones or pips at one-second intervals to mark the precise start of each hour…
Happy Birthday Facebook (2004)
Today we celebrate Facebook’s 21st Birthday. Yes, Facebook has come of age. On the 4th of February 2004 Facebook was created by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students…
Dutch Tulip Mania Collapsed (1637)
On this day 388 years ago the first recorded speculative bubble or asset bubble in history collapsed. The Dutch tulip mania (in Dutch: „Tulpenmanie“) was a period during the Dutch…
100 years Serum Run to Nome, Alaska (1925)
100 years ago, to the day the serum run to Nome, Alaska set off with 20 mushers and 150 sled dogs. On the 2nd of February 1925 the Great Race…
Happy Birthday Christian Geistdörfer (1953)
Christian Geistdörfer (born 1 February 1953 in Munich) is a German former rally co-driver. His career in motorsport lasted from 1975 to 1990. From 1977 to 1987, he co-drove to…
Last Boing 747 delivered to Atlas Air (2023)
Today we celebrate the end of an era. On the 31st of January 2023 the last produced Boing 747, a Boing 747-8 was delivered to Atlas Air. It was emblazoned…
Mazda Company is Founded (1920)
On this day in the year 1920 the Mazda company was initially founded as a cork producing company. Today this proud and innovative automotive company produces over 1 Mio. cars…
Karl Benz Patents First Gasoline / Petrol Car (1886)
143 years ago, this patent did the most to enable human mobility. On the 29th of January 1886 Karl Benz patented the first gasoline / petrol car. This started a…
Lego Patent for Design of Lego Bricks (1958)
67 years ago, today one of the most influential children and adult toys was patented. On the 28th of January 1958 the Lego company patented the design of its Lego…
Happy Birthday Frank Miller (1957)
Happy 68th Birthday comic artist Frank Miller. Born on the 27th of January 1957 in Olney Maryland he uniquely combined film noir and manga and is famous for his Sin…
Happy Birthday Paul Newman (1925)
Today we celebrate Paul Newman’s posthumous 100th Birthday. The actor and racing driver was born on 26th of January 1925 in Shaker Heights, Ohio. As a racing driver her…
Happy Birthday Dean Jones (1931)
Happy Birthday Dean Jones. Dean Jones was born on the 25th of January 1931 in Decatur Alabama. He is most famous for playing the role of Herbie’s racing driver Jim…
Happy Birthday Ernst Heinkel (1888)
Happy Birthday Ernst Heinkel, Who? Ernst Heinkel was born on 24th of January 1888 in Grumbach, Germany. He designed spectacular aircraft for the German Luftwaffe during the Second World War.…
Happy Birthday Richard Dean Anderson (1950)
MacGyver and Stargate SGC made this Actor on of science fiction’s classic stars. Today is his 75th Birthday. Richard Dean Anderson was born on the 23rd of January 1950 in…