Technical rendition of Atlantis docked to the Kristall module of the Russian Mir Space Station.
On June 29, 1995 the shuttle Atlantis docked with the Mir station for the first time. This also marked the first in orbit docking of a NASA spacecraft since the joint Apollo-Soyuz mission of July, 1975.
NASA’s Shuttle-Mir program continued for 11 missions and was a crucial step towards the construction of the International Space Station now in orbit.
More than 1,000 people taking a pleasure trip on New York City’s East River were drowned or burned to death when a fire swept through the riverboat-style steamerGeneral Slocum. This was one of the United States’ worst maritime disasters.
The General Slocum was built in 1890 and used mostly for taking large groups on day outings. On June 15, the St. Mark’s German Lutheran Church assembled a group of 1,360 people, mostly children and teachers, for their annual Sunday School picnic.
The picnic was to take place at Locust Point in the Bronx after a cruise up the East River on the General Slocum.
At about 9 a.m., the dangerously overcrowded boat left its dock in Manhattan with Captain William Van Schaik in charge. As the boat passed 83rd Street, accounts indicate that a child spotted a fire in a storeroom and reported it to the Captain. The onboard fire hose, which had never been used, tested or inspected, did not work.
In all, 630 bodies were recovered and another 401 were missing and presumed dead.
The boat’s crew, and officers in the Knickerbocker Company, owner and operator of the General Slocum, were charged with criminal negligence.
Nancy Sinatra began her career as a singer in November 1957 with an appearance on her father’s ABC television variety series The Frank Sinatra Show.She is 85 years young today.
