Events
1054 - A supernova is observed near ζ Tauri. For several months it remains bright enough to be seen during the day. Its remnants form the Crab Nebula (above).
1934 - Leo Szilard patents the chain-reaction design for the atomic bomb.
1997 - NASA’s Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars.
2005 - The Deep Impact collider hits the comet Tempel 1.
Births
1854 - Victor BabeÅ, Romanian bacteriologist
Deaths
1850 - William Kirby, English entomologist
1910 - Giovanni Schiaparelli, Italian astronomer
1934 - Maria Sklodowska-Curie, Nobel Prize in Chemistry and Physics
1977 - Gersh Budker, Russian physicist
1997 - John Zachary Young, English zoologist