NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft made its closest approach to Uranus, the only close-up visit to the planet ever conducted, revealing rings, moons, and a tilted magnetic field.

A day after the Challenger disaster, Americans held vigils and NASA began the grim work of recovery as investigators started piecing together what went wrong.

NASA delayed the Challenger shuttle launch by a day due to a stuck bolt and weather concerns, pushing the fateful liftoff to January 28.

The Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds after launch, killing all seven astronauts including teacher Christa McAuliffe.

Ferdinand Marcos fled the Philippines after millions of citizens joined the peaceful EDSA People Power Revolution, ending his 20-year rule.

Apple launched the Apple IIGS, a 16-bit upgrade to its aging 8-bit Apple II line, blending backward compatibility with color graphics and sound.

Mikhail Gorbachev delivered a landmark speech to the 27th Communist Party Congress in Moscow, formally unveiling perestroika and glasnost to the Soviet elite.

The Rogers Commission held its first public hearing into the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, beginning the inquiry that exposed NASA's O-ring failures.

Physicist Richard Feynman is sworn into the Rogers Commission investigating the Challenger disaster, where his ice-water O-ring test would become iconic.

Days after fleeing Manila, the deposed Ferdinand Marcos was formally confirmed in exile in Hawaii as the Philippines settled into Corazon Aquino's new government.

Weeks after fleeing the Philippines amid the People Power Revolution, the new Aquino government moved to seize and investigate the hidden fortune of ousted president Ferdinand Marcos.

Reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded during a botched safety test, releasing radioactive fallout across Europe.

Soviet authorities evacuate roughly 49,000 residents of Pripyat, more than 36 hours after reactor No. 4 at Chernobyl exploded, as radiation levels soar.

Ten days after the Chernobyl reactor explosion, Soviet authorities finally allowed foreign journalists near the disaster zone as international pressure over the cover-up mounted.

Soviet authorities intensified the mass deployment of liquidators to entomb the ruined Chernobyl reactor, weeks after the catastrophic April 26 explosion.

The Musée d'Orsay opened in Paris inside a converted Belle Époque railway station, reuniting Impressionist masterpieces under one glass-vaulted roof.