January 2
Geek events to celebrate on January 2:
1860 – A new small planet named Vulcan is hypothesized to exist in orbit between the Mercury and the sun. The planet’s existence was questioned until it was finally negated in 1915 by Einstein’s theory of general relativity. Vulcan was later chosen as the fictional home planet for the Star Trek character Spock.
1959 – Luna 1, the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon and to orbit the Sun, is launched by the U.S.S.R.
2004 – Stardust successfully flies past Comet Wild 2, collecting samples that were returned to Earth.
January 2 birthdays of geeky note:
1920 – Isaac Asimov, prolific American author and biochemistry professor who is considered the father of science fiction (d. April 6, 1992). His legacy includes the American magazine Asimov’s Science Fiction that was first published in 1977.