历史上的今天-Today in History 2010-01-31

 January 31st, 1958America enters the space age, successfully launching its first satellite into orbit Explorer I. It happens just months after the Soviet¹ Union launches Sputnik, the very first satellite into orbit.

2001A Libyan intelligence officer is convicted of murder and gets life in prison for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in Lockerbie, Scotland. That’s the verdict from a Scottish court convened² in the Netherlands. The court acquits³ a second Libyan in the 1988 bombing which killed 270 people.

1945Private Eddie Slovik becomes the first U.S. soldier since the Civil War to be executed for desertion. Slovik is shot by an American firing squad⁴ in France during the final month of World War II in Europe.

1923Norman Mailer, one of the great American authors in the years after World War II, is born in Long Branch, New Jersey⁵.

And 1797Composer Franz Schubert is born in Vienna, Austria.

Today in History, January 31st, Mike Gracia, the Associated Press.

1 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

2 convened   

召开( convene的过去式 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合

参考例句：

• The chairman convened the committee to put the issue to a vote. 主席召集委员们开会对这个问题进行表决。
• The governor convened his troops to put down the revolt. 总督召集他的部队去镇压叛乱。

3 acquits   

宣判…无罪( acquit的第三人称单数 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现

参考例句：

• Well, let's wait and, see how he acquits himself today! 且看他今天办的怎样！ 来自子夜部分
• Athena, as president, gives her vote for Orestes and acquits him. 这时，阿西娜以审判长的资格，给奥列斯特投了一票，宣告他无罪。

4 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

5 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。