Today in News History

On July 12, several notable moments in the history of News stand out. In 1405, Ming admiral Zheng He sets sail to explore the world for the first time. In 1801, French astronomer Jean-Louis Pons makes his first comet discovery. In the next 27 years he discovers another 36 comets, more than any other person in history. In 1913, Cordwainer Smith, American sinologist, author, and academic (died 1966) was born. In 1937, Pai Hsien-yung, Chinese-Taiwanese author was born. In 1960, Congo Crisis: The State of Katanga breaks away from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 1962, Fumiya Fujii, Japanese music artist 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 2006, Mumbai train bombings: 209 people are killed in a series of bomb attacks in Mumbai, India. In 2009, Ji Xianlin, Chinese linguist and paleographer (born 1911) passed away. In 2015, Satoru Iwata, Japanese game programmer and businessman (born 1959) passed away. Together, these milestones provide historical context for today's news news and ongoing narratives.