SortStack #2676 — 2033-10-06

By year · Order from earliest to most recent.

1. Isaac Newton publishes the Principia, laying out his laws of motion 1687

   The Royal Society couldn't afford to print it — it had blown its budget on a lavish history of fish — so astronomer Edmond Halley paid out of his own pocket.

2. The Eiffel Tower opens to the public in Paris 1889

   It was meant to stand for only twenty years. Its usefulness as a giant radio antenna saved it from demolition.

3. Queen Victoria dies after the longest reign in British history to date 1901

   She reigned for 63 years and her children married into so many royal houses she was called 'the grandmother of Europe.'

4. The Sydney Opera House officially opens 1973

   It opened ten years late and roughly fourteen times over budget. Architect Jorn Utzon resigned mid-project and never returned to see it finished.

5. Reactor four explodes at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant 1986

   The Soviet Union stayed silent until radiation set off alarms at a Swedish plant over 1,000 km away — workers' shoes triggered the detectors.

6. SpaceX launches its Falcon Heavy rocket for the first time 2018

   The test payload was Elon Musk's own red Tesla Roadster, with a spacesuited mannequin named Starman at the wheel — it is still orbiting the Sun.

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