On This Day: Challenger explodes after takeoff

Jan. 28 (UPI) — On this date in history:

In 1547, Henry VIII died and 9-year-old Edward VI became king of England.

In 1782, the U.S. Congress authorized creation of the great seal of the United States.

In 1813, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen was published.

In 1958, the Lego Group received a patent for its toy building blocks.

File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI

In 1965, British Queen Elizabeth II accepted a new national flag design for Canada that included a red maple leaf in its center.

In 1974, Israel lifted its siege of Suez City and turned over 300,000 square miles of Egyptian territory to the United Nations, ending an occupation that had begun during the October 1973 war.

In 1980, six Americans hidden for three months in the Canadian Embassy in Tehran were smuggled out of Iran by Canadian diplomats. The so-called “Canadian Caper” was featured in the 2012 movie Argo.

In 1982, kidnapped U.S. Army Brig. Gen. James Dozier was rescued in Padua, Italy, after being held 42 days by Italian Red Brigades militants.

In 1985, dozens of the biggest names in popular music recorded “We Are the World,” royalties of which benefited the starving people of Africa.

In 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 72 seconds after launch from Cape Canaveral, killing all seven crew members, including civilian teacher Christa McAuliffe.

In 1997, five former police officers in South Africa admitted to killing anti-apartheid activist Stephen Biko, who died in police custody in 1977 and whose death had been officially listed as an accident.

In 2004, the chief U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq told congressional government officials “were almost all wrong” in believing Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and called for an outside independent investigation of the apparent intelligence failure.

File Photo by Roger L. Wollenberg/UPI

In 2009, the World Health Organization said more than 3,000 people died of cholera during an outbreak in Zimbabwe.

In 2021, actor Cicely Tyson, who starred in Roots and Fried Green Tomatoes, died at the age of 96.

File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI

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