On July 28, 1976, the worst modern earthquake took place in China. At 3:42 a.m., an earthquake measuring between 7.8 and 8.2 magnitude on the Richter scale hit the city of Tangshan. Tangshan is an industrial city with a population of about one million people. An estimated 242,000 people in Tangshan and surrounding areas were killed, making the earthquake one of the deadliest in recorded history, surpassed only by the 300,000 who died in the Calcutta earthquake in 1737, and the 830,000 thought to have perished in China's Shaanxi province in 1556.
On July 30, 1619, the first elected law-making (legislative) assembly met in America. In Jamestown, Virginia, the House of Burgesses (which means "Citizens") met in the choir of the town's church. All adult males were allowed to vote for the members of the House of Burgesses. In the election, twenty-two representatives were elected, and Master John Pory became the assembly's speaker. The first law, which, like all of its laws, would have to be approved by the London Company, required tobacco to be sold for at least three shillings per pound. Other laws passed during its first six-day session included prohibitions against gambling, drunkenness, and idleness, and a measure that made Sabbath observance mandatory.
On July 31, 1964, Ranger 7, a remote control probe (like a camera) photographed the moon. Ranger 7 took the first close-up images of the moon--4,308 in total--before it crashed into the moon's surface, northwest of the Sea of the Clouds. The images were 1,000 times as clear as anything ever seen through earth-bound telescopes before. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had tried a similar mission earlier in the year--Ranger 6--but the probe's cameras had failed as it descended to the moon's surface. Ranger 7, launched from Earth on July 28, successfully activated its cameras 17 minutes, or 1,300 miles, before impact and began beaming the images back to NASA's receiving station in California. The pictures showed that the moon's surface was safe enough to land on. The pictures encouraged NASA's plan to send astronauts to the moon. In July 1969, two Americans walked on the moon for the first time.
THIS WEEK IN HISTORY
On July 30, 1619, the first elected law-making (legislative) assembly met in America. In Jamestown, Virginia, the House of Burgesses (which means "Citizens") met in the choir of the town's church. All adult males were allowed to vote for the members of the House of Burgesses. In the election, twenty-two representatives were elected, and Master John Pory became the assembly's speaker. The first law, which, like all of its laws, would have to be approved by the London Company, required tobacco to be sold for at least three shillings per pound. Other laws passed during its first six-day session included prohibitions against gambling, drunkenness, and idleness, and a measure that made Sabbath observance mandatory.
On July 31, 1964, Ranger 7, a remote control probe (like a camera) photographed the moon. Ranger 7 took the first close-up images of the moon--4,308 in total--before it crashed into the moon's surface, northwest of the Sea of the Clouds. The images were 1,000 times as clear as anything ever seen through earth-bound telescopes before. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had tried a similar mission earlier in the year--Ranger 6--but the probe's cameras had failed as it descended to the moon's surface. Ranger 7, launched from Earth on July 28, successfully activated its cameras 17 minutes, or 1,300 miles, before impact and began beaming the images back to NASA's receiving station in California. The pictures showed that the moon's surface was safe enough to land on. The pictures encouraged NASA's plan to send astronauts to the moon. In July 1969, two Americans walked on the moon for the first time.