On this day · archive
A distant world unsettles the planetary roll call
The 2005 announcement of Eris gave astronomers more than another distant world. It made the solar system’s categories newly visible, and newly unsettled.
8
events in todayish file
2005
Astronomers announce the discovery of the dwarf planet Eris.
A point of light far beyond the familiar planets forced a closer look at the names and borders of the solar system.
Astronomers announced the discovery of the dwarf planet Eris on July 29, 2005. The object was remote; the question it sharpened was close to home: what, exactly, belongs on the solar system’s list of planets?
Discovery often adds an item to a catalog. Eris did something more disruptive. Its presence made the boundaries of the catalog visible, revealing that classification is part of scientific work rather than a label applied once and left alone.
The day’s other space entries involve the International Space Station losing attitude and Challenger reaching a lower orbit than planned. Eris changes course differently: by making knowledge itself adjust.
The full record
8 entries from the day’s archive, filed year by year with a note on what each one leaves behind.
Three children are stabbed to death and 10 other people injured at a dance studio in Southport, England. This incident, coupled with widespread online misinformation, leads to various racially motivated riots across the UK.
The Southport killings and misinformation were followed by racially motivated riots across the UK.
Violence
The 2019 Altamira prison riot between rival Brazilian drug gangs leaves 62 dead.
The violence exposed how confinement and rival criminal control could turn a prison into a site of mass death.
Violence
The first piece of suspected debris from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 is discovered on Réunion Island.
A piece found far across the Indian Ocean gave the long search for MH370 a physical trace.
Aviation
Two passenger trains collide in the Swiss municipality of Granges-près-Marnand near Lausanne injuring 25 people.
The collision turned an ordinary passenger route into an emergency for crews and travelers near Lausanne.
Disaster
Astronomers announce their discovery of the dwarf planet Eris.
Eris expanded the known solar system and pressed on the definition of a planet.
Science
Space Shuttle Challenger launches on STS-51-F. The shuttle ends up in a lower orbit than planned due to an engine failure during ascent.
The mission continued after an ascent failure, but in an orbit below its original plan.
Space
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs into law the National Aeronautics and Space Act, which creates the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
The law created NASA and placed the civilian space program inside a durable public institution.
Space
The International Atomic Energy Agency is established.
The agency gave nuclear cooperation, safeguards, and inspection a permanent international institution.
Diplomacy