the news
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February 2, 1990: De Klerk Unbans the ANC and Promises Mandela’s Release
The Speech That Ended Apartheid On February 2, 1990, South African President F.W. de Klerk stood before Parliament in Cape Town and delivered a speech that shocked the world. After decades of resistance, international sanctions, and internal strife, de Klerk announced the unbanning of the African National Congress (ANC) and other anti-apartheid organizations. He promised…
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February 1, 2003: The Columbia Disaster
A Tragic Homecoming On February 1, 2003, at 9:00 AM EST, families gathered at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, waiting to welcome their loved ones home. Children held signs. Cameras were ready. It was a routine end to a successful mission—Space Shuttle Columbia was returning from a 16-day scientific research flight. But 16 minutes before…
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January 31, 1971: Apollo 14 Launches to the Moon
Return to the Moon On January 31, 1971, at 4:03 PM EST, a Saturn V rocket thundered away from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center. Aboard were three astronauts: Commander Alan Shepard, Command Module Pilot Stuart Roosa, and Lunar Module Pilot Edgar Mitchell. Their destination was the Fra Mauro Highlands on the Moon—a site…
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January 30, 2007: Windows Vista Is Released
The Operating System Everyone Loved to Hate On January 30, 2007, Microsoft released Windows Vista, the successor to Windows XP and the most controversial operating system in the company’s history. After five years of development, multiple delays, and promises of a revolutionary new Windows experience, Vista arrived in stores worldwide. Within months, it would become…
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January 29, 2002: Bush Declares an “Axis of Evil”
Three Words That Changed the World On January 29, 2002, President George W. Bush stood before a joint session of Congress and the American people to deliver his State of the Union address. The nation was still reeling from the September 11 attacks, still fighting in Afghanistan, still searching for answers about who had attacked…
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January 28, 1958: Lego Patents the Modern Brick
The Click That Changed Play Forever On January 28, 1958, a Danish toy company filed a patent application that would prove more enduring than almost any other product design in history. The patent described a simple plastic brick with tubes inside and studs on top—a connection system so perfect that bricks made that year still…
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January 27, 2010: Apple Announces the iPad
The Device Nobody Knew They Wanted On January 27, 2010, Steve Jobs walked onto the stage at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco and held up something that looked like an oversized iPhone. The audience wasn’t sure what to make of it. The tech press had been speculating for years about…
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January 26, 2009: Nadya Suleman Gives Birth to Octuplets
Eight Babies, One Delivery On January 26, 2009, at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Bellflower, California, medical history was made. Nadya Suleman, a 33-year-old single mother, gave birth to eight living babies—only the second set of octuplets ever born in the United States, and the first where all eight survived longer than the first week.…
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January 25, 1995: The Norwegian Rocket Incident
Ten Minutes to Armageddon On January 25, 1995, Russian President Boris Yeltsin was awakened in the middle of the night and handed a device known as the “Cheget”—the Russian nuclear briefcase. For the first and only time in history, a Russian leader activated the system used to authorize a nuclear strike. Radar stations had detected…
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January 24, 2003: The Department of Homeland Security Begins Operations
A New Era of Security On January 24, 2003, the United States Department of Homeland Security officially opened its doors, marking the largest reorganization of the federal government since the Department of Defense was created in 1947. With 170,000 employees on day one and a budget exceeding $37 billion, DHS represented America’s response to the…