1847

Proud parents Samuel and Nancy welcomed their seventh and last child into the world. Thomas Edison would grow up to embody the word inventor.

Further reading

http://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Edison

 

1970

With the launch of Osumi 5, Japan became the fourth country (after the US, USSR and France) to place a satellite into orbit using its own rocket.

Further reading

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%8Csumi_%28satellite%29

1974

The first Titan-Centaur rocket test launch fails. However the test was successful enough that no more tests were performed and this rocket design was used 6 more times successfully. Scientists are strange.

Further reading

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan-Centaur

 

1997

The Space Shuttle Discovery launched on Mission STS-82 with the objective of making significant upgrades to the scientific capabilities of the Hubble Space Telescope. The upgrades helped turn the Hubble from a punchline, to one of the greatest telescopes ever created.
Further reading

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-82

http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-82/mission-sts-82.html

2004

Ben Hammersley wrote a column for The Guardian called “Audible revolution” describing a boom in amateur radio on the Internet. He proposed three terms for the new wave of shows, Audioblogging, GuerillaMedia, and Podcasting. It was the first known publication of the term podcasting.

Further reading

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2004/feb/12/broadcasting.digitalmedia