Today in History

• 1986 Space Shuttle “Challenger” explodes

  The orbiter broke apart 73 seconds after lift-off, killing all 7 astronauts on board.

• 1985 USA for Africa record “We Are the World”

  Over 20 million copies of the charity single were sold.

• 1958 The Lego brick is patented

  The Lego company has since produced 500 billion Lego elements, amounting to 10 lego towers from Earth to the Moon.

• 1820 Fabian von Bellinghausen discovers the Antarctic

  The Baltic German explorer is believed to be the first person to sight the Earth’s southernmost continent.

• 1813 Jane Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice, is published

  It is one of the best-known works of English literature and it was sold about 20 million times.