1947 – The aircraft-carrier Midway became the first US vessel from which a long-range rocket was launched. The rocket had a mishap though, and exploded at 5,000 feet.
1954 – US President Eisenhower waved a ceremonial “neutron wand” over a neutron counter in Denver, Colorado, to signal a bulldozer in Shippingport, Pennsylvania to begin construction on the first commercial nuclear power plant. It was part of the “Atoms for Peace” program.
1997 – The USS Grace Murray Hopper, guided missile destroyer, was commissioned by the US Navy in San Francisco, named after the computer pioneer.
Read Tom’s science fiction and other fiction books at Merritt’s Books site.