1488 - Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal lands in Mossel Bay after rounding the Cape of Good Hope, becoming the first known European to travel so far south.
1931 - Hawke's Bay earthquake; New Zealand's worst natural disaster, kills 258.
1966 - 1st soft landing on Moon (Soviet Luna 9).
1966 – USA launched the first climatic satellite ESSA.
1972 - Deadliest snowstorm in history: Iran blizzard; which would kill at least 4,000 people.
1984 - Space Shuttle Challenger lifts off for mission STS-41-B.
1995 - Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off for mission STS-63 is launched - Astronaut Eileen Collins becomes the first woman to pilot the Space Shuttle.
