On this day: November 4

/on/november-4
1996 • neutral • 5 views

NASA Launches Mars Pathfinder Spacecraft

Mars Pathfinder lander on the Martian surface with its six-wheeled Sojourner rover nearby and flat, rocky plains extending toward distant horizons under a pale sky.

On November 4, 1996, NASA successfully launched the Mars Pathfinder mission—sending an innovative lander and rover system toward Mars to demonstrate low-cost, highly capable surface exploration techniques.

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1979 • neutral • 3 views

U.S. Embassy in Tehran Seized by Iranian Students, 1979

Crowded courtyard of the U.S. Embassy compound in Tehran with groups of people, Iranian flags visible, and soldiers or militia figures nearby, circa 1979.

On November 4, 1979, militant Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took 52 American diplomats and citizens hostage, beginning a 444-day crisis that reshaped U.S.-Iran relations and global diplomacy.

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