Important Events From This day in History – 14th November

Today in History

• 2010 Sebastian Vettel wins the Formula One World Drivers’ Champion

  At 23 years old, the German competitive race driver became the youngest person to win the World Championship in Formula One.

• 1971 First spacecraft to orbit a planet

  After 167 days in space, NASA’s Mariner 9 entered Mars’ orbit. Despite being in Mars’ orbit in 15 minutes, a dust storm on the planet prevented Mariner 9 from taking pictures of the planet until January.

• 1969 Apollo 12 launched

  Commander Charles Conrad, Jr., Richard F. Gordon, Jr., and Alan L. Bean were part of NASA’s second manned mission to the Moon. It was the first spacecraft to land on the Moon on November 19, and it carried the first color TV camera to the Moon.

• 1889 Nelie Bly sets out to go around the world in 80 days

  The American journalist, real name Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman, followed in the footsteps of Jules Verne’s fictional character Phileas Fogg from Around the World in 80 Days. She began her adventure in Hoboken and returned 72 days later.

• 1851 Moby Dick Makes its Debut in the United States

  The Whale, Herman Melville’s epic novel about Captain Ahab’s quest to find and kill Moby Dick, a white whale, was published in the United Kingdom in October. Despite being regarded as one of the best fictional works written in recent history, the book did not sell well after its initial release or during Melville’s lifetime.