Today in News History

On July 12, several notable moments in the history of News stand out. In 1760, Peggy Shippen, American wife of Benedict Arnold and American Revolutionary War spy (died 1804) was born. In 1797, Ienăchiță Văcărescu, Romanian historian and philologist (born 1740) passed away. In 1826, Alexander Afanasyev, Russian ethnographer and author (died 1871) was born. In 1916, Alexander Prokhorov, Australian-Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2002) was born. In 1923, Richard Pipes, Polish-American historian and academic (died 2018) was born. In 1950, J. R. Morgan, Welsh author and academic was born. In 1954, Julia King, English engineer and academic was born. In 1962, Project Apollo: At a press conference, NASA announces lunar orbit rendezvous as the means to land astronauts on the Moon, and return them to Earth. In 1968, Michael Geist, Canadian journalist and academic was born. In 2021, Richard Branson becomes the first civilian to be launched into space via his Virgin Galactic spacecraft. Together, these milestones provide historical context for today's news news and ongoing narratives.