1473 – Was born Nicola Copernicus, Polish astronomer.
1556 - The Peruvian stratovolcano Huaynaputina explodes in the most violent eruption in the recorded history of South America
1884 - Enigma tornado outbreak: More than sixty tornadoes strike the Southern United States, one of the largest tornado outbreaks in U.S. history.
1986 - The Soviet Union launches its Mir spacecraft. Remaining in orbit for 15 years, it is occupied for 10 of those years.
2002 - NASA Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of Mars using its thermal emission imaging system.
