Major Mike | Today in History 10/01 (NASA)

Partial view of the port wing of the space shuttle Discovery in 2011 (© NASA/Getty Images)

(1958) A new space agency takes off

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) becomes active, replacing the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Congress had approved the new agency earlier in the year in response to the Soviet launch of Sputnik 1.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research.

Website: www.nasa.gov
Customer service: (202) 358-0001
Founded: Jul 29, 1958 · United States
Headquarters: Washington, D.C., United States
Founder: Dwight D. Eisenhower
Space programs: Apollo program · Space Shuttle program · Project Mercury · Project Gemini · Voyager program · Mariner program · New Frontiers program · International Space Station program · Discovery Program · Mars Exploration Program · Lunar Orbiter program · Mars Scout Program · Mars Surveyor ’98 program · Small Explorer program · Deep …
Spacecraft: Curiosity · 2001 Mars Odyssey · Nautilus-X · Mariner 9 · Ulysses · Landsat 8 · Aqua · Terra · Solar Orbiter · International Cometary Explorer · Uhuru · Explorer 33 · Graham · LAGEOS-1 · LAGEOS-2

Vehicle Assembly and Launch Control at Kennedy Space Center
wiki/NASA

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(1958) A new space agency takes off.
Also on this day,

331 BCE | Alexander the Great defeats the Persians

His warriors severely outnumbered, Alexander shows why he’s called “Great,” routing Darius III’s Persian army at Gaugamela, Mesopotamia near modern day Mosul, Iraq. With the defeat, almost two centuries of Persian rule ends and over two centuries of Hellenistic rule begins.

1908 | Ford makes autos affordable to ‘the great multitude’ as Model T on market

Henry Ford’s new auto is offered to the public at a relatively economical $825, and buyers can choose any color Model T as long as it’s black. Offering a four-cylinder engine, around 20 mpg, and a top speed of 40 mph, the Detroit automaker markets his car to America’s burgeoning middle class.

1946 | Judgments at Nuremberg as Nazis are sentenced

After a war that decimated Europe, and a holocaust that killed upwards of 11 million people, 24 convicted Nazi war criminals hear their sentences read out in a Nuremberg, Germany court following nearly a year of trials. Twelve will be executed, including Gestapo chief Hermann Goering.

Today in History ^10/01/17

Leading Nazi figures during courtroom proceedings for war crimes in Nuremberg, Germany (© Raymond D'Addario/Galerie Bilderwelt/Getty Images)

(1946) Judgments at Nuremberg as Nazis are sentenced

After a war that decimated Europe, and a holocaust that killed upwards of 11 million people, 24 convicted Nazi war criminals hear their sentences read out in a Nuremberg, Germany court following nearly a year of trials. Twelve will be executed, including Gestapo chief Hermann Goering.

The Nuremberg trials were a series of military tribunals held by the Allied forces under international law and the laws of war after World War II. The trials were most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, judicial and economic leadership of Nazi Germany, who planned, carried out, or otherwise participated in the Holocaust and other war crimes. The trials were held in the city of Nuremberg, Germany, and their decisions marked a turning point between classical and contemporary international law.