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Jim Lovell (born March 25, 1928) is an American retired astronaut. The first person to fly four times in space, he commanded Apollo 13 (1970), which suffered a failure en route and looped around the Moon. Lovell also flew twice during Project Gemini, and flew with Frank Borman and William Anders on Apollo 8 (1968), the first crewed mission to orbit the Moon. Lovell was the first person to fly to the Moon twice, though due to the Apollo 13 abort, he never landed on it. A graduate of the Naval Academy class of 1952, Lovell became a test pilot, and missed selection by NASA as one of the Mercury Seven astronauts due to a temporarily high bilirubin count. He was accepted in September 1962 as a member of NASA's second group of astronauts, and is a recipient of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He co-authored the book Lost Moon, the basis for the film Apollo 13, in which he appeared in a cameo. (This article is part of a featured topic: NASA Astronaut Group 2.)
Did you know ...
- ... that two members of the French parliament were killed when a delayed-action German bomb exploded in the town hall at Bapaume on 25 March 1917 (aftermath pictured)?
- ... that Hixxy and Sharkey created a schism in the UK rave music scene in 1995?
- ... that the earliest Nabataean Aramaic inscriptions contain Arabic names and loanwords?
- ... that Alexandra Hunt, a former stripper, opened an OnlyFans account in response to an Internet troll during her campaign for a seat in the United States House of Representatives?
- ... that in his review of A Tribute for the Negro by Wilson Armistead, Frederick Douglass criticised how it included an image of him that was edited to give him a smile?
- ... that New Haven, Connecticut, was home to the world's first commercial telephone exchange?
- ... that an English country house was the location for the 1970s horror sexploitation films Virgin Witch, Satan's Slave and Terror?
- ... that the 1989 Georgetown–Princeton basketball game made Bob Scrabis "the face of Cinderella"?
In the news
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- The World Baseball Classic concludes with Japan defeating the United States for the championship (MVP Shohei Ohtani pictured).
- An earthquake in Afghanistan and Pakistan kills at least 30 people and injures more than 380 others.
- Swiss bank UBS announces its intention to acquire its competitor Credit Suisse in a government-brokered deal.
- The International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Russian president Vladimir Putin and Russian official Maria Lvova-Belova for the abduction of children from Ukraine.
On this day
March 25: Bengali Genocide Remembrance Day; Earth Hour (20:30 local time, 2023)
- 717 – Byzantine emperor Theodosius III abdicated in favour of Leo the Isaurian after he captured Theodosius's son.
- 1410 – The Yongle Emperor (pictured) of Ming China launched the first of his military campaigns against the Mongols, resulting in the fall of the Mongol khan Bunyashiri.
- 1807 – The Slave Trade Act became law, abolishing the Atlantic slave trade in the British Empire.
- 1903 – The Scottish National Antarctic Expedition anchored in the South Orkney Islands with the intention of establishing the first weather station in Antarctic territory.
- 1934 – Enrico Fermi published his discovery of neutron-induced radioactivity, for which he was later awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.
- Sophie Blanchard (b. 1778)
- Selim Sırrı Tarcan (b. 1874)
- Lorna Arnold (d. 2014)
Today's featured picture
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The Annunciation is an oil painting by the Early Netherlandish master Jan van Eyck, painted around 1434–1436. Originally on panel, the work was transferred to canvas in the 19th century. It is thought to have been the left (inner) wing of a triptych, although there have been no sightings of the other wings since before 1817. The painting depicts the biblical scene of the Annunciation, in which the Archangel Gabriel announces to the Virgin Mary that she will bear the son of God. The inscription shows his words: AVE GRA PLENA ('Hail, full of grace'). She modestly draws back and responds, ECCE ANCILLA DNI ('Behold the handmaiden of the Lord'); these words appear upside down. The Annunciation is now in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Painting credit: Jan van Eyck
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