Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
	1      12 years ago, in 1949: Gerard Kuiper discovers one of Neptune's moons, Nereid.	2      181 years ago, in 1780: The first binary star system to be discovered, Xi Ursae Majoris, is found by William Herschel.	3      300 years ago, in 1661: Christiaan Huygens observes the planet Mercury transit the Sun.      246 years ago, in 1715: During an eclipse in England, Edmond Halley is the first to report the phenomenon later known as Baily's Beads.	4	5        This year: Alan Shepard is the first American to be in a suborbital flight around the Earth (Mercury/Freedom 7).	6      208 years ago, in 1753: Charles Messier makes his first documented observation; the Mercury transit of the Sun.      43 years ago, in 1918: The 72 inch Plaskett telescope at The Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in Saanich, British Columbia sees first light.
7	8	9      39 years ago, in 1922: Tthe IAU passes a resolution to formally adopt Annie Jump Cannon's stellar classification system.	10      15 years ago, in 1946: A White Sands modified V-2 rocket reaches 69 miles (111 kms).	11      180 years ago, in 1781: The Sombrero Galaxy (M104) is discovered by Pierre Méchain.	12      31 years ago, in 1930: The first planetarium in the United States, Adler Planetarium in Chicago, is opened to the public.	13      228 years ago, in 1733: Birger Wassenius of Sweden, observing an eclipse near Göteborg, is the first to report prominences visible to the unaided eye; he incorrectly attributes them to the Moon.      100 years ago, in 1861: John Tebbutt of Australia discovers the Great Comet of 1861 (C/1861 J1).       1 year ago, in 1960: The original Echo 1, a metalized balloon passive-communications satellite, is launched, but the rocket explodes after lift-off.
14	15      4 years ago, in 1957: The first launch of a Soviet R-7 Semyorka leads to an unintended crash 400 km (250 mi) from the launch site.      3 years ago, in 1958: Sputnik 3 is launched to explore the upper atmosphere and near space.       1 year ago, in 1960: Korabl-Sputnik 1 (Sputnik 4), the first and unmanned test flight of the Vostok, is launched.	16	17      79 years ago, in 1882: On an expedition in Egypt , Dr. Arthur Schuster sees a comet (Tewfik) near the Sun during a total eclipse.	18	19        This year: Venera 1 is the first craft to fly by Venus, though contact is lost.	20
21      177 years ago, in 1784: William Herschel discovers NGC 6287, a globular cluster in the constellation Ophiuchus.	22      177 years ago, in 1784: William Herschel discovers NGC 6284, a globular cluster in the constellation Ophiuchus.      15 years ago, in 1946: A White Sands WAC Corporal reaches the then-defined edge of space, 50 miles (80 kms).	23      3 years ago, in 1958: Explorer 1 makes its final transmission.	24      418 years ago, in 1543: Nicolaus Copernicus dies at age 70 in Frauenburg, Royal Prussia, Kingdom of Poland.      126 years ago, in 1835: John Herschel discovers NGC 6325, a globular cluster in the constellation Ophiuchus.	25        This year: President Kennedy makes his famous "Moon speech".	26	27
28      2 years ago, in 1959: Launched aboard a Jupiter ICBM, Able and Baker became the first monkeys to survive spaceflight.	29      42 years ago, in 1919: Arthur Eddington confirms Einstein's theory of general relativity during a total solar eclipse.	30	31      26 years ago, in 1935: The David Dunlap Observatory in Richmond Hill, Ontario, housing a 74-inch (1.88 m) reflector telescope (still the largest in Canada), has its official opening .