1957 – The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 2 carrying the first animal ever to enter orbit, a dog named Laika. It would go on to inspire the saddest Jonathan Coulton song ever, “Space Doggity” and the band Laika and the Cosmonauts.
http://www.russianspaceweb.com/sputnik2.html
1973 – NASA launched Mariner 10 towards Mercury. It would become the first space probe to reach the planet.
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/history/70s/Mariner10_1973.htm
1992 – Tim Berners-Lee posted a page describing the World Wide Web. It’s the oldest page still served on the Web. http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/FAQ.html#Examples
http://www.w3.org/History/19921103-hypertext/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html
Read Tom’s science fiction and other fiction books at Merritt’s Books site.