December 14

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  1546: Astronomer Tycho Brahe born. He will make observations some five times more accurate than the best available observations at the time.

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  1782: The Montgolfier brothers' first balloon lifts off on its first test flight. Shown here: first public flight (June 4, 1783).

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  1922: Physicist and educator Nikolay Basov born. He will do fundamental work in the field of quantum electronics.

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  1940: Plutonium (specifically Pu-238) is first isolated at Berkeley, California.

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  1947: Thomas Goldsmith Jr. is granted a patent for a "Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device", the first ever electronic game.

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  1953: Anthropologist, ethnobotanist, author, and photographer Wade Davis born.

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  1976: Viking program: The Viking 2 orbiter begins its extended mission.

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  2017: Dennis Paulson of Mars celebrates the forty-first anniversary of the Viking 2 orbiter beginning its extended mission.