April 23 in history: Russian Rocket, first Youtube video, England bombings and Younis Khan

In a race to reach the moon, the Soviet Union launches Soyuz-1 in 1967 carrying cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov. Soyuz-1 was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome at 3:35 in the morning but despite a successful launch, the first manned space-flight of the Soyuz programme ran into problems. The original plan was abandoned and Komarov was directed by ground engineers to get back to earth. Komarov lost control of the shuttle upon re-entry. His death being certain, he was contacted by Soviet statesman Alexei Kosygin, who cried and praised the cosmonaut’s heroism. Komarov and his wife spoke thereafter and said their goodbyes. The Americans, listening to the conversation and having developed an admiration for their competitors over the years also felt mournful. Vladimir Komarov’s last transmission were rageful screams that ended in silence as the space shuttle hit the earth with full force. In accordance with his request, his casket at the state funeral remained open, revealing his scorched remains. Two years later, in July 1969, Neil Armstrong, as he was about to depart back to earth from the moon, left a small memorial item in honour of Vladimir Komarov and those who died in humanity’s quest to conquer the space.

The German theoretical physicist Max Plank is born in the city of Kiel in 1958. Regarded as a pioneer in Quantum Mechanics that subsequently revolutionised scientific understanding of the physical world. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918. Along with Albert Einstein and others, Max Plank is regarded as one of the most important scientists of the 20th century. He died in 1947.

Considered as the greatest English language author of all time, William Shakespeare dies in 1616 at the age of 52. Renowned for his play’s and poetry across the world and immortalised in popular culture even in the 21st century, Shakespeare’s most famous works include Hamlet, Macbeth and Othello.

The Baedeker Blitz Air raids on English cities by Nazi Germany’s Luftwaffe (Air force) begin in 1942 as a response to bombings by the Royal Air force (RAF) in Northern Germany. “When targets are being selected, preference is to be given to those where attacks are likely to have the greatest possible effect on civilian life, said Chief of the Luftwaffe Hermann Göring. “Cultural centres, health resorts and civilian centres must be attacked,” he said at the time. The bombings lasted for over a month and targeted several English cities killing more than 1600 civilians, injuring close to 1800 and destroyed close to 50,000 homes. However, the raids failed to achieve their objective of preventing RAF from launching additional raids. By the end of 1942, the war slowly began to turn against Nazi Germany with major defeats on the front with the Soviet Union.

The Coca-Cola company launches the ‘New Coke’ in 1985 with a different formula as compared to the original. The company had re-branded its flagship product after years of losing market share to rival Pepsi. However, the New Coke elicited an intensely negative reaction from consumers, forcing the company to revert back to its original formula. The incident is often taught and discussed in business schools today as a lesson against tinkering with a successful brand.

The first video on Youtube is uploaded in 2005 by Jawad Karim, its co-founder. Titled ‘Me at the Zoo,’ the video currently has 48 million views. Within 10 years of its launch, Youtube went on to become one of the most popular websites on the World Wide Web. Today, over 4 billion videos are watched everyday and more than 300 hours of video is uploaded every minute! You can watch the first video here.

Younis Khan becomes the first Pakistani cricketer to score 10,000 runs. He reached the landmark shortly after tea on the third day of the first Test against West Indies in Jamaica in 2017. He achieved 10,000 runs in about a year and a half since he became Pakistan’s highest run-maker, averaging nearly 47 in the 14 matches between then and April 23, 2017. “I credit this success and achievement to all my family members, especially my late father, my mother and the late Bob Woolmer, who always motivated me,” Younis said. “This is not just my achievement, this is for everyone in Pakistan, this is Pakistan’s achievement.”