On this day... April 13th

Fully in the midst of your favourite old friend, ‘Hump Day’, it’s time to throw some perspective at you.

Far from a bridge between the pain of a return to work and the joys of the weekend, Wednesday 13th April is actually a pretty special day.

Why you ask? Let’s find out...

1970  - ‘Houston We’ve Had a Problem’

Now a treasured piece of contemporary history, the famous phrase ‘Houston, we’ve had a problem here’ was uttered on this day in 1970.

After an oxygen tank had exploded on board of Apollo 13, American Test Pilot Jack Swigert reported back about the ominous ‘problem’ that threatened the lives of the crew on board. With a near-complete loss of electricity and oxygen supplies, the crew were forced to abandon their control module in favour of a lunar module which was, in effect, a makeshift space-lifeboat!

Stranded thousands of miles from Earth, NASA planned and executed arguably the most daring rescue mission in US space history. Against all odds, the three astronauts returned safely to Earth after four days in limbo.

1965 - Help!

On this day in 1965, The Beatles recorded the fourth of their 6 consecutive number one singles in the US charts, ‘Help!’. Taken from their 5th studio album, also entitled ‘Help!’, John Lennon later went on to recount how his entire time in The Beatles was a huge cry for ‘help’ owing to the band’s overwhelming god-like status around the world.

1998 - Natural cloning birth

On this day in 1998, Dolly the sheep gave natural birth to a healthy baby lamb named Bonnie.

Dolly, who famously became the world’s first clone produced from an adult mammal cell, is now displayed at the National Museum of Scotland.

And an honourable mention goes to…

Thomas Jefferson, who was born on this day in 1743. Jefferson, who was one of the founding fathers of the United States, had a principal role in the writing of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson also went on to serve as both the Vice-President and President of the United States.