41. The Challenger Loses the Challenge
On Tuesday, January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger was scheduled for take-off. Seventy-three seconds into its flight, the Challenger broke apart under the pressure of flight, killing all seven crew members aboard. The photograph depicts the Challenger seconds into flight.
To this date, it is the worst event in the history of NASA. It prompted a presidential investigation committee to look into the matter; it found that NASA had violated its own safety rules and ignored warnings from engineers about the dangers before the flight.
42. The Last Known Image of the Titanic Before the Crash
The Titanic had been nicknamed the “unsinkable ship”. The ship was built in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and was meant to be the most sturdy and fast ship, expected to cross the Atlantic at record speed. The Titanic left Southampton on 10 April 1912, and stopped in Cherbourg, France, and Queenstown in Ireland before heading west to New York.
On 14 April, four days into its journey and approximately 375 miles south of Newfoundland, the ship hit an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. its time. This is the last image of the Titanic afloat.