历史上的今天-Today in History 2012-04-13

 Hello, everyone. Today is April 13th. And on this day in 1743,Thomas Jefferson, future president and drafter of Declaration of Independence, was born. The top political theorist in early America, Jefferson played an enormous role in shaping early American politics.

He was known not only an intellectual but an architect, philosopher, musician and atheist¹. He was also amongst the strongest supporters of freedom of speech and religion and insisted that all men are equal in rights regardless of birth, wealth or status and that the government is the servant not the master of the people.

He later died in his home at Monticello on July 4th, 1826 on the 50th anniversary of the famous Declaration.

And on this day in 1970Houston, we have a problem...

With radio back to earth from Apollo 13 after an oxygen tank exploded and crippled the tiny spacecraft on 200,000 miles from earth. The team of three astronauts: James Lovell, John Swigert and Fred Haise had blasted off two days earlier and were forced to cancel their visit to the moon in order to simply make it back to earth alive. Having problems with oxygen, electricity, light and water, the craft continued to the moon and used its gravitational force to slink short them back home. This unexpected deviation² was a huge logistical nightmare for not only the astronauts but everyone in mission control who had to figure out how to stabilize³ the shift in its air supply and still had enough energy to get them through reentry. Fortunately, four days later with the entire world watching the three men safely touched down the Pacific Ocean, marking the end of one of the greatest space dramas of all time.

And on this day in 1998Dolly, the world's first clone sheep gave natural birth to a healthy baby lamb, proving once for all that even artificially created animals are horny.

Well, that's it for today, but be sure start by tomorrow for more on this day in history

1 atheist   

n.无神论者

参考例句：

• She was an atheist but now she says she's seen the light.她本来是个无神论者，可是现在她说自己的信仰改变了。
• He is admittedly an atheist.他被公认是位无神论者。

2 deviation   

n.背离，偏离；偏差，偏向；离题

参考例句：

• Deviation from this rule are very rare.很少有违反这条规则的。
• Any deviation from the party's faith is seen as betrayal.任何对党的信仰的偏离被视作背叛。

3 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。