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- QOTW: If you were one of the four astronauts on Artemis II, looking back at the Earth, what is the one thing from home you’d realize you completely forgot to pack?
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On This Day In History for February 18, 2026
This is the 42nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 323 days remaining in 2026.
- It was on this date in 1584, that a naval expedition led by Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa founded Nombre de Jesús, the first of two short-lived Spanish settlements in the Strait of Magellan.
- Jesse Fell burned anthracite on an open grate as an experiment in heating homes with coal. on this date in 1808.
- Also today in 1826, University College London was founded as University of London.
- BBC Television produced the world’s first ever science fiction television programme, an adaptation of a section of the Karel Čapek play R.U.R., that coined the term “robot” on this date in 1938.
- Also on February 11, 1963, The Beatles recorded their first album Please Please Me.
- That same date in 1997, Space Shuttle Discovery was launched on a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope.
- It was on this date in 1999, that Pluto crossed Neptune’s orbit, ending a nearly 20 -year period when it was closer to the Sun than the gas giant; Pluto is not expected to interact with Neptune’s orbit again until 2231.
- That same date in 2000, Space Shuttle Endeavour was launched on STS-99 to conduct the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission.
- It was on this date in 2001, that A Dutch programmer launched the Anna Kournikova virus infecting millions of emails via a trick photo of the tennis star.
- Also today in 2020, The World Health Organization officially names the coronavirus outbreak as COVID-19, with the virus being designated SARS-CoV-2.
Happy birthday goes out on this date to:
- Native American-French Canadian explorer, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, born on this date in 1805.
- American physicist, Josiah Willard Gibbs was born 187 years ago today.
- Thomas Edison, the American engineer and businessman, developed the light bulb and phonograph was born 179 years ago today.
- Born February 11, 1864, French chemist Louis Bouveault.
- Hungarian-American physicist and academic, Leo Szilard was born 128 years ago today.
- Born February 11, 1917, American author and screenwriter Sidney Sheldon.
- American actor and director, Burt Reynolds, born on this date in 1936.
- The first CEO of Apple Inc., Michael Scott is 81 today.
- American engineer and astronaut, Richard Mastracchio, born on this date in 1960.
Listener Birthdays
- 18 – Hot John Miller of MegaPodTastic
- 18 – Ray Insalaco
- 19 – Scooter in Connecticut
- 19 – Steve in Sumter
- 19 – Steve Cody(Columbia, SC)
- 23 – Zhadum
- 23 – Keith Hughes(a.k.a. EdGizmo)
- 25 – Norbert
- 25 – Sandi Sheppard (Mark’s lovely wife)
- 28 – Wayne “Your Ad Here” Pittenger
- 29 – Paul Dove a.k.a Eilmer
And that’s the way it was, on this day in history for February 18, 2026
- If you want to get on the Technorama Birthday Calendar, visit our website and look for the Birthday Calendar link.
News
- Barack Obama says aliens are ‘real, but I haven’t seen them’ in out-there new interview
- Woman sentenced for accusing her estranged spouse of illegally accessing bank account from outer space
- Astronomers puzzle over ‘inside out’ planetary system – World – DAWN.COM
- NASA Running Out of Non-Life Explanations for What Its Rover Found on Mars
Hacks & Strange Stories
- Chuck’s new media controller
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Question of the week
- What is the most ‘high-tech’ piece of equipment you own that you still have to ‘fix’ by hitting it, shaking it, or blowing on it?
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