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Moon Events in History



2013 Event - NASA reveals the Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot (RASSOR), a lunar mining robot which could be used to produce fuel and water directly on the Moon

2013 Event - NASA scientists achieve a first in laser communication when they successfully beam a picture of Leonardo da Vinci's 'Mona Lisa' to the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, a spacecraft orbiting the Moon

2012 Event - A tight race is expected in South Korea as voters choose between Moon Jae-in, of South Korea's Democratic United Party, and Park Geun-hye, of the conservative Saenuri Party

2012 Event - NASA reports its Twin GRAIL probes studying the surface of the Moon reveal unexpectedly-deep cracks, craters and tectonic structures

2012 Event - Astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first person on the Moon, dies at age 82

2012 Event - The discovery of the fifth moon of Pluto, S/2012 P 1, is announced by astronomers

2012 Event - The moon forms a super moon as it gets the closest to the earth for the year

2012 Event - NASA's second Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory spacecraft is in orbit around the moon

2011 Event - The moon appears 30% brighter and 14% larger than at its furthest point; it reaches its closest point to Earth since 1993

2010 Event - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao releases pictures of the moon's Sinus Iridum, or Bay of Rainbows, taken during China's Chang e-2 lunar mission

2010 Event - The brightest object in the night sky next to the Moon is the planet Jupiter, as it makes its closest approach to Earth since 1963

2010 Event - Christina Figueres of Costa Rica is appointed by U.N. Secretary - General Ban Ki Moon to lead efforts to combat global warming and climate change

2009 Event - The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter/LCROSS is launched by NASA to probe the Moon

2005 Event - The Huygens probe lands on Saturn's moon Titan

2003 Death - Lana Clarkson, actress, Amazon Women on the Moon, dies at 40

2000 Event - Conjunction of Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Moon

1999 Death - Pete Conrad, "astronaut, businessman", third man to walk on the moon, dies at 69

1996 Event - "Moon Over Buffalo" closes at Martin Beck Theater New York City after 308 performances

1995 Event - "Fool Moon" opens at Ambassador Theater New York City

1995 Event - "Moon Over Buffalo" opens at Martin Beck Theater New York City for 308 performances

1994 Death - Henry Mancini, composer (Pink Panther, Moon River), dies at 70

1993 Event - "Fool Moon" closes at Richard Rodgers Theater New York City after 207 performances

1993 Event - "Fool Moon" opens at Richard Rodgers Theater New York City for 207 performances

1992 Event - Galileo spacecraft passes North Pole of Moon (Peary Crater)

1991 Death - Bertice Reading, Dutch actress (Moon in the Gutter), dies

1990 Death - Nina Bara, actress (Missile to the Moon), dies of cancer at 66

1990 Event - "Normal Life" starring Moon Unit and Dweezil Zappa premieres on CBS-TV

1990 Event - Japanese MUSES-A (Hiten) launched towards moon

1989 Event - Conjunction of Venus, Mars, Uranus, Neptune, Saturn and Moon

1989 Event - After 12-year, 4-billion-mile journey, Voyager 2 flies over cloudtops of Neptune and its moon Triton, sending back photographs of swamps

1988 Death - Christopher Connelly, actor (Liar's Moon, Hawmps), dies at 47

1988 Event - Soviet Union launches Phobos 1 to probe Martian moon (unsuccessful)

1985 Event - Houston quarterback Warren Moon sacked NFL tying record 12 times (by Cowboys)

1985 Death - Edmond O'Brien, actor (Moon Pilot, Wild Bunch), dies at 69

1984 Death - Mabel Mercer, English/US singer (Fly me to the moon), dies at 84

1983 Event - Light flashes seen on Jupiter moon Io

1982 Event - Biggest mass wedding, Reverend Sun Myung Moon weds 2,200 couples in New York City

1982 Event - Sun Myung Moon sentenced to 18 months for tax fraud

1982 Event - Unification Church founder Reverend Sun Myung Moon convicted of tax evasion

1982 Event - Dark Side of the Moon, is on charts for 402nd week

1981 Event - April Moon sets women's handbow distance record of 1,039 yards and 13"

1981 Event - Voyager 2 takes photo's of Saturn's moon Titan

1980 Event - Voyager 1 space probe discovers 15th moon of Saturn

1979 Event - Pioneer 11 makes 1st fly-by of Saturn, discovers new moon, rings

1978 Death - Keith Moon, rock drummer (Who), dies of drug OD at 31

1978 Event - James Christy's discovery of Pluto's moon Charon announced

1978 Death - Charlotte Greenwood, actress (Oklahoma, Moon over Miami), dies at 84

1977 Event - U.S. Voyager I takes 1st space photograph of Earth and Moon together

1976 Event - Reverend Sun Myung Moon holds "God Bless America" convention

1976 Event - U.S.S.R.'s Luna 24 soft-lands on Moon

1976 Event - Keith Moon, drummer for Who, collapses and is hospitalized in Miami

1976 Birthday - Soleil Moon Frye, born in Glendora, California, actress, Punky Brewster

1975 Event - Moon tremor perceived, hit by Taurid meteors

1975 Event - "Men on the Moon" closes at Little Theater New York City after 5 performances

1975 Event - "Men on the Moon" opens at Little Theater New York City for 5 performances

1974 Event - Luna 23 launched (landing on Moon)

1974 Death - John Wengraf, actor (Pride and Passion, 12 to the Moon), dies at 77

1973 Death - Stringer Davis, actress (Mouse on the Moon, Miranda), dies at about 77

1973 Death - Willy Fritsch, German actor (Spies, Women in the Moon), dies at 72

1973 Death - Ursula Jeans, actress (Cavalcade, Over the Moon), dies at 66

1973 Event - U.S.S.R.'s Lunakhod 2 begins radio-controlled exploration of Moon

1973 Event - Luna 21 launched, to Moon

1973 Event - U.S.S.R. launches Luna 21 for Moon landing

1972 Event - Apollo 17, last of Apollo Moon landing series, returns to Earth

1972 Event - Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt leave the Moon

1972 Event - Astronauts Cernan and Harrison become 11th and 12th on Moon

1972 Event - Apollo 16 astronauts explores Moon surface

1972 Event - Apollo astronauts John Young and Charles Duke ride on Moon

1972 Event - John Young and Charles Duke explores Moon (Apollo 16)

1972 Event - Apollo 16's Young and Duke land on Moon with Boeing Lunar Rover #2

1972 Event - Luna 20 (Russia) launched to orbit and soft landing on Moon

1971 Event - Dave Scott becomes 1st person to drive a car on Moon

1971 Event - Apollo 15 astronauts take 6 hour electric car ride on Moon

1971 Event - U.S. Apollo 15 (Scott and Irwin) lands on Mare Imbrium on the Moon

1971 Event - Apollo 15 launched (Scott and Irwin) to 4th manned landing on Moon

1971 Event - Apollo 14, 3rd U.S. manned Moon expedition, lands near Fra Mauro Alan Shepard and Edward Mitchell (Apollo 14) walk on Moon for 4 hours

1971 Event - Apollo 14 lander Antares lands on Moon (Shepard and Mitchell)

1970 Event - Russia lands self propelled rover on Moon

1970 Event - Russia lands Lunokhod 1 unmanned remote-controlled vehicle on Moon

1970 Event - Zond 8 Launch (Moon Orbit and Return)

1970 Event - Soviet Luna 16 lands on earth after 1st unmanned round trip to moon

1970 Event - Luna 16 leaves Moon

1970 Event - Luna 16 lands on Moon's Mare Fecunditatis, drills core sample

1970 Event - Luna 16 Launch (Moon Sample Return)

1970 Event - Apollo 13 announces "Houston, we've got a problem!" as Beech-built oxygen tank explodes en route to Moon

1970 Event - Apollo 13 launched to Moon; unable to land, returns in 6 days

1969 Event - Apollo 12's Conrad and Bean become 3rd and 4th humans on Moon

1969 Event - Apollo 12 (Conrad/Gordon/Bean) launched for 2nd manned Moon landing

1969 Event - Neil Armstrong steps on Moon at 2:56:15 AM, GMT

1969 Event - Russia's Luna 15 impacts moon after 52 lunar orbits

1969 Event - 1st men on Moon, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, Apollo 11

1969 Event - Apollo 11 goes into Moon orbit

1969 Event - Apollo 11, carrying 1st men to land on Moon, launched

1969 Event - Russia launches unmanned Luna 15 to Moon

1968 Event - Frank Borman's Christmas reading while orbiting Moon

1968 Event - Borman, Lovell and Anders become 1st men to orbit Moon

1968 Event - Apollo 8 (Borman, Lovell and Anders) 1st manned Moon voyage

1968 Event - Zond 5 completes circumnavigation of Moon

1968 Event - Apollo 5 launched to Moon; unmanned lunar module tests made

1968 Event - Surveyor 7 space probe soft lands on Moon

1968 Event - Surveyor 7 (last of series) launched by U.S. for soft-landing on Moon

1967 Event - Surveyor 6 becomes 1st man-made object to lift off Moon

1967 Event - Surveyor 6 soft lands on Moon

1967 Event - Surveyor 6 launched for soft landing on Moon

1967 Event - U.S. launches Surveyor 6; makes soft landing on Moon Nov 9

1967 Birthday - Moon Unit Zappa, rocker, Valley Girl, Frank's daughter

1967 Event - Surveyor 5 launched; makes soft landing on Moon Sept 10

1967 Event - Surveyor 4 launched to Moon; explodes just before landing

1967 Event - Lunar Orbiter 4 launched by U.S.; begins orbiting Moon May 7

1967 Event - U.S. Surveyor III lands on Moon

1967 Event - Surveyor 3 launched; soft lands on Moon, April 20

1967 Death - Moon Mullican, rocker, dies at 58

1966 Event - Luna 13 lands on Moon

1966 Event - Lunar Orbiter 2 reaches 196-1871 km around Moon

1966 Event - Lunar Orbiter 1 crashes on moon: 6.7 degrees N 162 degrees E

1966 Event - U.S.S.R. launches Luna 12 for orbit around Moon

1966 Event - Surveyor 2 crashes on Moon

1966 Event - U.S. Surveyor B launched toward Moon; crashed Sept 23

1966 Event - U.S.S.R. launches Luna 11 for orbit around Moon

1966 Event - Lunar Orbiter 1 takes 1st photograph of Earth from Moon

1966 Event - 1st U.S. lunar orbiter begins orbiting Moon

1966 Event - U.S. launches Orbiter 1 to the Moon

1966 Event - U.S. launches Surveyor 1 to Moon

1966 Event - Luna 10 orbits Moon

1966 Event - Soviet Union's Luna 10 becomes 1st spacecraft to orbit Moon

1966 Event - 1st soft landing on Moon (Soviet Luna 9)

1966 Event - U.S.S.R. launches Luna 9 towards Moon

1965 Event - U.S.S.R. launches Luna 8; crashes on Moon

1965 Event - U.S.S.R. launches Luna 7; crash lands on Moon

1965 Event - Zond 3 launched to fly by Moon, enters solar orbit

1965 Death - Mary Boland, actress (Boy Trouble, New Moon), dies at 83

1965 Event - U.S.S.R. launches Luna 6; missed Moon

1965 Event - Luna 5 launched (U.S.S.R.) 1st attempt to soft land on Moon (fails)

1965 Event - U.S.S.R. launches Luna 5; later impacts on Moon

1965 Event - U.S. Ranger 9 strikes Moon, 10 miles (16 km) NE of crater Alphonsus

1965 Event - Ranger 8 makes hard landing on the Moon, returns photos, other data

1965 Birthday - Sherilyn Fenn, born in Detroit, Michigan, actress, 2 Moon Junction, Twin Peaks

1964 Death - Sam Cooke, U.S., singer (Sad Moon), slain at a motel at 33

1964 Event - U.S. Ranger 7 takes 4,316 pictures before crashing on Moon

1964 Event - Ranger 7 launched toward the Moon; sent back 4308 TV pictures

1964 Birthday - Dana Hill [Goetz], Van Nuys California, actress, 2 of Us, Shoot the Moon

1964 Event - Ranger 6 launched; makes perfect flight to Moon, but cameras fail

1964 Birthday - Nicolas Cage, actor, Moonstruck, Racing with the Moon

1963 Birthday - Tatum O'Neal, LA Cal, Mrs. John McEnroe, Paper Moon, Little Darlings

1963 Event - U.S.S.R. launches Luna 4; missed Moon by 8,500 km

1963 Event - Soviet Luna (4) reaches Earth orbit but fails to reach Moon

1962 Event - U.S. launches Ranger 5 for lunar impact; misses Moon

1962 Event - Laser beam successfully bounced off Moon for 1st time

1962 Event - Ranger 4 crash lands on (backside of) Moon

1962 Event - U.S. Ranger spacecraft crash lands on Moon

1962 Event - 1st U.S. satellite to reach the moon launched

1962 Event - Ranger 4, 1st U.S. satellite to reach Moon launched from Cape Canaveral

1962 Event - Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn within 16 degrees

1962 Event - U.S. launches Ranger 3, misses Moon by 22,000-mi (37,000-km)

1961 Event - U.S. Ranger 2 launched to Moon; failed

1961 Event - John F. Kennedy sets goal of putting a man on Moon before the end of decade

1959 Event - Far side of Moon seen for 1st time, compliments of U.S.S.R.'s Luna 3

1959 Event - Soviet Luna 3, 1st successful photographic spacecraft, impacts Moon

1959 Event - U.S.S.R. Luna 3 sent back 1st photos of Moon's far side

1959 Event - Soviet Union's Luna-2 is 1st spacecraft to land on the Moon

1959 Event - Luna 2 launched by U.S.S.R.; 1st spacecraft to impact on Moon

1959 Event - Eisenhower routes Canadian premier Diefenbaker message off the Moon

1959 Birthday - Cathryn Harrison, born in London, England, actress, Old Woman in Black Moon

1959 Event - U.S. Pioneer IV misses Moon and becomes 2nd (U.S. 1st) artificial planet

1958 Death - H[arry] B[yron] Warner, actor (10 Commandments, New Moon), dies at 83

1958 Event - 2nd U.S. Moon probe, Pioneer 1, reaches 113,810 km, falls back

1958 Event - World's 1st Moon probe, US's Thor-Able, explodes at T +77 sec

1958 Birthday - Will Sergeant, rock guitarist, Echo and Bunnymen-Killing Moon

1956 Birthday - Warren Moon, NFL quarterback, Houston Oilers, Seahawks, Vikings

1956 Birthday - Yoshiko Sakakibara, Chiba Japan, actress, Sailor Moon, Vampire Hunter

1955 Birthday - Cassandra Wilson, born in Jackson, Mississippi, jazz singer, guitar player, jazz and blues genres, album 'New Moon Daughter' won Grammy Award

1955 Death - Tom Powers, actor (Station West, Destination Moon), dies at 65

1955 Event - Reverend Sun Young Moon leaves prison in Seoul

1954 Event - 8th Tony Awards: Teahouse of the August Moon and Kismet win

1953 Event - John Patrick's "Teahouse of the Red Moon," premieres in New York City

1950 Event - Reverend Sun Young Moon liberated from Hung Nam prison

1950 Event - Because of forest fire in Br Columbia, blue moon appears in England

1949 Birthday - Gill Scott-Heron, U.S., writer, poet and singer, Whities on the Moon

1948 Birthday - Ozzy Osbourne, England, rock vocalist, Black Sabbath-Bark at the Moon

1948 Event - A flash of light is observed in crater Plato on Moon

1948 Event - Miranda, famous moon of Uranus, photographed for 1st time

1948 Birthday - Cyril Neville, U.S. singer/percussionist, Neville Bros-Yellow Moon

1947 Birthday - Graham Faulkner, London, actor, Brother Sun Sister Moon

1947 Birthday - Keith Moon, English rock drummer, Who-I'm A Boy

1947 Event - Eugene O'Neill's "Moon for the Misbegotten," premieres in New York City

1946 Event - U.S. Army establishes 1st radar contact with Moon, Belmar, New Jersey

1945 Event - Violent battles around Sugar Loaf/Half Moon Okinawa

1945 Event - Ella Fitzgerald and Delta Rhythm Boys record "It's Only a Paper Moon"

1945 Birthday - Elizabeth Moon, American Author

1944 Birthday - Jonathan King, born in London, England, Kenneth George King, singer, songwriter, pop music producer, wrote song 'Everyone's Gone to the Moon', successful writer, producer for other musical artists

1943 Death - A[braham] [P] Merritt, author (Moon Pool, Creep Shadow!), dies at 58

1941 Birthday - Curtis Lee, born in Yuma, Arizona, singer, doo-wop and pop recording artist with Phil Spector, partnered with Tommy Boyce, sang 'Under the Moon of Love', 'Pretty Little Angel Eyes'

1941 Birthday - Patricio Guzman, director/actor, Cruz del Sur, Moon over Parador

1941 Birthday - Ryan O'Neal, born in Los Angeles, California, actor, Peyton Place, Paper Moon, Love Story

1941 Birthday - Ryan O'Neal, actor, Love Story, Paper Moon

1940 Birthday - Dany Saval, born in Oakland California, actress, Boeing Boeing, Moon Pilot

1938 Event - Clifford Odets' "Rocket to the Moon," premieres in New York City

1933 Birthday - Penelope Lively, born in Cairo, Egypt, writer, novelist, won Booker Prize for 'Moon Tiger', influenced by social changes in 20th century Britain

1932 Birthday - Louis Malle, France, director, Atlantic City, Black Moon, Viva Maria

1932 Birthday - Mary Moon, Headmistress, Manchester High School for Girls

1932 Birthday - David Scott, born in San Antonio, Texas, astronaut, commander of Apollo 15 mission, seventh person to walk on the Moon, first person to drive on the Moon

1930 Birthday - Andy Williams, Wall Lake Iowa, singer, Moon River, Andy Williams Show

1930 Birthday - Tommy Cook, Duluth, Minnesota, actor, Missile to the Moon

1929 Event - G Kaufman and R Lardner's musical "June Moon," premieres in New York City

1929 Event - "New Moon" musical opens in London

1928 Birthday - Leo P[atrick] Kelley, U.S., sci-fi author, Dead Moon, Vacation in Space

1927 Birthday - Carl Toms, stage designer, 1 Million BC, Moon Zero Two

1923 Death - Ernst Debes, German cartographer (Moon Atlas), dies at 83

1923 Event - "Moon Mullins," Comic Strip, debuts

1923 Death - Edward E Barnard, U.S. astronomer (5th moon Jupiter), dies at 65

1920 Birthday - Sun Myung Moon, evangelist, Unification Church-Moonies

1918 Event - Eugene O'Neill's "Moon of the Caribees," premieres in New York City

1915 Birthday - Lester del Rey, U.S., sci-fi author, Moon Trilogy, Marooned on Mars

1915 Birthday - John Archer, Osceola Nebraska, actor, Destination: Moon

1914 Death - George W. Hill, U.S. astronomer (moon orbit), dies at 76

1913 Birthday - Harry Mills, singer, Mills Brothers-Paper Moon

1913 Birthday - Richard Travis, born in Carlsbad, New Mexico, actor, Missile to the Moon

1912 Death - George Darwin, theorized Moon was pulled out of Pacific Ocean, dies

1911 Birthday - [William] Broderick Crawford, Philadelphia, actor, Hunter, Liar's Moon

1911 Birthday - Bill Monroe, Rosine, Kentucky, country singer, Blue Moon of Kentucky

1910 Birthday - John W. Campbell, U.S., sci-fi writer, Moon is Hell

1909 Birthday - Johnny Mercer, Savannah, Georgia, lyricist, Moon River, Old Black Magic

1909 Event - "Shine On, Harvest Moon" by Ada Jones and Billy Murray hits #1

1909 Birthday - Moon Mullican, hillbilly pianist, 7 Nights of Rock

1909 Birthday - Elisabeth Welch, singer, Song of Freedom, Over the Moon

1907 Birthday - Christopher Fry, Bristol England, playwright, Ring Around the Moon

1907 Birthday - Anton D Hildebrand, children's book writer, Man in the Moon

1907 Event - Lady Gregory's "Rising of the Moon," premieres in Dublin

1906 Birthday - Louis Borell, born in Amsterdam, Netherlands, actor, Over the Moon, Queer Cargo

1906 Birthday - Ursula Jeans, Simla India. actress, I Lived With You, Over the Moon

1902 Event - 1st science fiction film released, A Trip To The Moon

1901 Birthday - Willy Fritsch, German actor, Spies, Women in the Moon

1900 Birthday - Mabel Mercer, English cabaret vocalist, Fly Me to the Moon

1899 Event - Phoebe, a moon of Saturn is discovered by Pickering

1897 Birthday - John Wengraf, born in Vienna, Austria, actor, 12 to Moon, Pride and Passion

1893 Birthday - Charlotte Greenwood, born in Philadelphia, actress, Oklahoma, Moon over Miami

1893 Birthday - Juan Miro, Spain, painter/sculptor, Dog Barking at the Moon

1892 Event - E E Barnard at Lick discovers Amalthea, 5th Jupiter moon

1891 Birthday - Stanley Andrews, born in Chicago, Illinois, actor, Shine on Harvest Moon

1890 Birthday - Ernst Deutsch, Dorian, Prague Czechoslovakia, actor, Moon is Down, 3rd Man

1890 Birthday - Tom Powers, born in Owensboro, Kentucky, actor, Station West, Destination Moon

1884 Birthday - A[braham P] Merritt, U.S., sci-fi author, Moon Pool, Creep Shadow!

1883 Death - Joseph AF Plateau, Belgian physicist (Blue Moon), dies

1880 Death - William Lassell, English astronomer (1st moon of Neptune), dies

1877 Event - Asaph Hall discovers Mars' moon Phobos

1877 Event - Asaph Hall discovers Mars's moon Deimos

1850 Death - Wilhelm Bear, German banker/astronomer (Moon Map), dies at 53

1849 Event - William Bond obtains 1st photograph of Moon through a telescope

1848 Event - Hyperion, moon of Saturn, discovered by Bond (U.S.) and Lassell (England)

1846 Event - Neptune's moon Triton discovered by William Lassell

1840 Event - Draper takes 1st successful photo of the Moon (daguerrotype)

1839 Event - 1st celestial photograph (of Moon) made in U.S., John Draper, New York City

1839 Event - 1st photo of the Moon (French photographer Louis Daguerre)

1838 Birthday - George W. Hill, U.S. astronomer, Moon orbit

1837 Birthday - Henry Draper, born in Virginia, astro-spectro-photographer, Moon, Jupiter

1835 Event - N.Y. Sun publishes Moon hoax story about John Herschel

1828 Birthday - Jules Verne, born in France, pioneered sci-fi, From the Earth to the Moon

1797 Birthday - Wilhelm Beer, Germany, amateur astronomer, constructed 1st Moon map

1789 Event - Sir William Herschel discovers Saturn's moon Enceladus

1787 Event - W Herschel discovers Enceladus, a moon of Saturn

1747 Birthday - Johann Abraham Peter Schulz, German composer, Moon has Risen

1619 Birthday - Cyrano de Bergerac, famous nose, playwright, Voyage to the Moon

1178 Event - 5 Canterbury monks report something exploding on Moon

1178 Event - 5 Canterbury monks report explosion on moon (only known observation)













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