20 Februrary

February 20 1919 – Amir of Afghanistan Habibullah Khan is Assassinated

February 20 1919 – Amir of Afghanistan Habibullah Khan is AssassinatedRate this post Just months after the end of World War I, the nation of Afghanistan was thrown into turmoil by the assassination of Amir Habibullah Khan on February 20, 1919. Pinned between Russia and British India, the country had gone through tremendous change under his reign, but his neutrality in the worldwide conflict cost him his life before he picked a successor, creating a scramble for the seat of power. Habibullah took over as the leader of Afghanistan after the death of his father in October 1901. For much of the previous century, the nation was a battlefield in […]

February 20 1986 – The Soviet Union launches the Mir space station

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February 20 1986 – The Soviet Union launches the Mir space stationRate this post On February 20, 1986, the erstwhile Soviet Republic launched the base module of the modular space station, Mir. Later, over the next ten years, additional modules were sent to be integrated with this core, using a number of space vehicles. The space station operated for almost 15 years between 1986 and 2001, in low earth orbit. Mir was the largest artificial satellite of the earth till it was deorbited and the position was taken over by the International Space Station(ISS). It was a comprehensive space laboratory so long as it was in orbit. Mir’s launch was […]