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Shannon Lucid (born January 14, 1943) is an American biochemist and retired NASA astronaut. Lucid earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1963, a master's degree in biochemistry in 1970, and a PhD in biochemistry in 1973. In 1978, she was recruited by NASA for astronaut training in the first class to include women. She flew on STS-51-G, STS-34, STS-43, STS-58, and completed a six-month mission aboard the Russian space station Mir in 1996, traveling there on the Space Shuttle Atlantis with STS-76 and returning with STS-79. Lucid is the only American woman to have stayed on Mir. From 1996 to 2007, she held the record for the longest duration spent in space by an American and by a woman. She was awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor in December 1996, making her the tenth person and the first woman to be accorded the honor. Lucid was NASA Chief Scientist from 2002 to 2003 and a capsule communicator at Mission Control for numerous Space Shuttle missions, including STS-135, the final mission of the Space Shuttle program. She announced her retirement from NASA in 2012. (Full article...)
Did you know ...
- ... that the Royal Manhattan Hotel (pictured), sold for $10 million in 1969, attracted no buyers when it was placed for sale at $1.8 million just six years later?
- ... that Italian designer Livio Castiglioni was the elder brother of Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, sons of sculptor Giannino Castiglioni?
- ... that an internet meme about the nonexistent film Goncharov inspired more than 500 fan fiction works about the film?
- ... that the Ohio Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church admonished pastor John Swanel Inskip for allowing men and women to sit together at church?
- ... that forest defenders sat in trees at the Old Atlanta Prison Farm to Stop Cop City?
- ... that París Galán, who introduced a style of drag performance in Bolivia, became the first-ever transgender individual to win elective office in the country?
- ... that Called Up Sent Down: The Bevin Boys' War describes the experiences of young men conscripted to work as coal miners in Britain during World War II?
- ... that when asked by reporters why he was retiring, U.S. Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall replied: "What's wrong with me? I'm old. I'm getting old and coming apart"?
In the news
- Supporters of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro invade the National Congress (damage pictured), the Supreme Federal Court, and the Palácio do Planalto.
- Michael Smith wins the PDC World Darts Championship.
- Croatia adopts the euro and joins the Schengen Area.
- Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI dies at the age of 95.
- Brazilian footballer Pelé dies at the age of 82.
On this day
January 14: Ratification Day in the United States (1784)
- 1301 – King Andrew III died without any male heirs, ending the Árpád dynasty, which had ruled Hungary since the late 9th century.
- 1900 – Giacomo Puccini's opera Tosca, based on the play La Tosca by French dramatist Victorien Sardou, premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome.
- 1939 – Norway claimed Queen Maud Land, a 2.7-million km2 (1.0-million sq mi) region of Antarctica, as a dependent territory.
- 1957 – Hindu spiritual leader Kripalu Maharaj was named the fifth original jagadguru, meaning 'world teacher'.
- 1973 – Elvis Presley's (pictured) concert Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite was broadcast live to audiences in Asia and Oceania.
- Carrie Derick (b. 1862)
- James P. Hagerstrom (b. 1921)
- Arfa Karim (d. 2012)
Today's featured picture
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Kaleva Church is a church of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland in the district of Liisankallio in Tampere, Finland. Designed by Reima and Raili Pietilä, the building was constructed between 1964 and 1966. It was constructed using slip forming, with seventeen narrow 35-metre-high (115 ft) hollow concrete U-shapes and full height windows between them. The walls were cast in twelve days. The floor plan of the church resembles a fish, an ancient symbol of Christianity. Photograph credit: Kallerna
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