SortStack #2655 — 2033-09-15

By year · Order from earliest to most recent.

1. A massive earthquake and tsunami destroy Lisbon 1755

   Striking on All Saints' Day while churches were full, it killed tens of thousands and shook European philosophy — Voltaire used it to attack the idea of a perfect world.

2. Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin in a moldy petri dish 1928

   Fleming found the mold after returning from holiday to his messy lab. He later said he hadn't planned to revolutionize medicine — 'but I suppose that was exactly what I did.'

3. India and Pakistan gain independence from Britain 1947

   Independence came at midnight, and the hastily drawn border triggered one of history's largest migrations — some fifteen million people crossed in both directions.

4. Christiaan Barnard performs the first human heart transplant in Cape Town 1967

   The first patient lived eighteen days. Barnard's second transplant patient lived more than eighteen months, proving the operation could work.

5. The Space Shuttle Columbia makes the first shuttle flight 1981

   It was the first time NASA launched humans on a vehicle that had never flown an uncrewed test — commander John Young had already walked on the Moon.

6. The Berlin Wall falls 1989

   A flustered official misread new travel rules at a press conference, saying they took effect 'immediately.' Crowds swamped the checkpoints within hours.

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