This week in history

August 10, 2003 – The first person to get married while in space

Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko was on the International Space Station when he married Ekaterina Dmitrieva, who was located in Texas at the time of the wedding. The wedding took place through a NASA satellite hookup.


August 11, 1962 – The Soviet space agency launches Vostok 3

The spacecraft was piloted by Andriyan Nikolayev, the first cosmonaut to have orbited the Earth 64 times in four days.


August 12, 1990 – The largest dinosaur fossil is found

American palaeontologist Sue Hendrickson found the fossilised remains of a Tyrannosaurus Rex in the state of South Dakota. Sue, as the dinosaurs are now informally called after its discoverer, is thought to have been 14 feet tall when alive.


August 13, 1961 – Construction of Berlin Wall starts

The construction on the Berlin Wall, a wall that divided West Berlin from East Berlin started. It was built by the German Democratic Republic or East Germany.


August 14, 1947 – Pakistan becomes independent from British rule

The South Asian country was part of British India Empire, until August 14, 1947, when the region held by the British was partitioned into India and Pakistan.


August 15, 1969 – The Woodstock Music & Art Fair opens its doors to participants and spectators

The iconic music festival, popularly known as Woodstock was held in Bethel, New York at the 600-acre farm of farmer Max B. Yasgur. Over 400,000 people attended the festival.


August 16, 1954 – First issue of Sports Illustrated hits the newsstands

The sports magazine which is famous for its annual swimsuit issue was not profitable for the first few years of its existence. The boost in spectator sports eventually helped it become successful.

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