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Joseph Francis Shea (September 5, 1925 – February 14, 1999) was an American aerospace engineer and NASA manager. After working for Bell Labs on the radio inertial guidance system of the Titan I intercontinental ballistic missile, he was hired by NASA in 1961. As Deputy Director of NASA's Office of Manned Space Flight, and later as head of the Apollo Spacecraft Program Office, Shea led NASA to decide in favor of lunar orbit rendezvous and supporting "all up" testing of the Saturn V rocket. Deeply involved in the investigation of the 1967 Apollo 1 fire, Shea suffered from stress. He was moved to an alternative position in Washington and left NASA shortly afterwards. From 1968 until 1990 he was a senior manager at Raytheon in Lexington, Massachusetts, then worked as an adjunct professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT. Shea served as a consultant for NASA on the redesign of the International Space Station in 1993, but resigned due to health issues. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Leontyne Price

... that the recordings of Leontyne Price (pictured) have been nominated for 25 Grammy Awards and won 13?
... that after the Battle of Vrigne-Meuse the identity of the last French soldier killed in World War I was disputed?
... that, when Richardson Viano was asked to represent Haiti at the 2022 Winter Olympics, he initially thought it was a joke?
... that the concept for the Radar, Coast Defense, Mark I, emerged in 1939 when an experimental radar set saw the splashes from shells falling in the water?
... that geologist E. Dale Jackson conducted experiments with Jello to test theories on the formation of the Hawaiian islands?
... that the "umbilical cord" panhandle is only about 90 centimetres (35 in) wide at its narrowest point?
... that the 2016 Christmas Eve EastEnders episode featured a character returning after 21 years?
... that the murder of the former director of Trinidad and Tobago's national museum in 2017 brought attention to crime in the country?
... that the leaves of Coprosma foetidissima, when rubbed, produce a smell like rotten cabbage?

In the news

Giorgio Armani

Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani (pictured) dies at the age of 91.
A derailment on the Ascensor da Glória funicular in Lisbon, Portugal, kills 16 people.
A magnitude-6.0 earthquake in Afghanistan leaves more than 2,200 people dead.
Samoa United in Faith wins an absolute majority in the general election.

On this day

September 5

El Dorado Fire

917 – Liu Yan declared himself emperor, establishing the state of Southern Han at his capital of Panyu (present-day Guangzhou) in southern China.
1774 – In response to the British Parliament's enactment of the so-called Intolerable Acts, representatives from twelve of the Thirteen Colonies convened the First Continental Congress at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia.
1970 – During the practice session of the Italian Grand Prix at Monza Circuit, Jochen Rindt was killed and subsequently became motor racing's only posthumous world champion.
1972 – The Palestinian militant group Black September took hostage eleven Israeli athletes and coaches at the Olympic Games in Munich, West Germany; all of the hostages were killed less than 24 hours later.
2020 – California wildfires: A pyrotechnic device at a gender reveal party ignited the El Dorado Fire (pictured), burning for 71 days and killing one firefighter.

Nap Lajoie (b. 1874)
Kathleen O'Melia (d. 1939)
Chris Hipkins (b. 1978)
Benyamin Sueb (d. 1995)

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Sigrid

Norwegian singer-songwriter Sigrid has recorded songs for two studio albums and three extended plays (EPs), and has also collaborated with other artists and covered songs by others. Sigrid wrote and released her first song, "Sun", in 2013. Island Records released her debut single, "Don't Kill My Vibe", in 2017. It was the lead single from her debut EP, Don't Kill My Vibe (2017). Sigrid's second EP, Raw (2018), included the single "High Five" and the self-written "Focus (Demo)". On her debut album, Sucker Punch (2019), Sigrid reunited with previous collaborators Martin Sjølie and Emily Warren, and worked with new songwriters like Noonie Bao and Oscar Holter. Sigrid wrote most of her second album, How to Let Go (2022), with Caroline Ailin and Sylvester Sivertsen. In 2022, Sigrid released singles in collaboration with Bring Me the Horizon and Griff, respectively. The Hype (2023), Sigrid's third EP, was supported by the single "The Hype". (Full list...)

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John Cage (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and the non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde. Critics have lauded him as one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was also instrumental in the development of modern dance, mostly through his association with choreographer Merce Cunningham, who was also Cage's romantic partner for most of their lives. Cage's best known work is the 1952 composition 4′33″, a piece performed in the absence of deliberate sound; musicians performing the work do nothing but be present for the duration specified by the title. The content of the composition is intended to be the sounds of the environment heard by the audience during performance. This 1988 head shot of Cage is in the archives of Anefo, a Dutch photograph press agency.

Photograph credit: Rob Bogaerts; cropped by Jan Arkesteijn

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