28 January 1986
On this date in 1986…
The space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The blast killed all seven crew members, including flight commander Francis R. “Dick” Scobee; pilot Michael J. Smith; Ronald E. McNair; Ellison S. Onizuka; Judith A. Resnik; Gregory B. Jarvis; and schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe.
Other Years:
- 1833 – A Cherokee commission of John Ross, John Baldridge, Richard Taylor, and Joseph Vann, met with the Secretary of War in Washington and refused to negotiate about Cherekee removal while the federal government failed to live up to its agreements to protect them from the State of Georgia,
- 1861 – South Carolina adopted the Palmetto Flag.
- 1861 – Louisiana state troops occupied Fort Macomb.
- 1865 – The cruiser C.S.S. Stonewall was officially designated and began its trip to the Confederate States.
- 1980 – The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Blackthorn collided with the tanker Capricorn while leaving Tampa, Florida and capsized killing 23 Coast Guard crewmembers.
- 1981 – The tanker Olympic Glory collided with another vessel and spilled a million gallons of oil in Galveston Bay, Texas.
Read: Why Know Southern History?
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