1966 in science - Definition and Overview

The year 1966 in science and technology included many events, some of which are listed below.

Astronomy and space exploration

• February 3 - The unmanned Soviet Luna 9 spacecraft makes the first controlled rocket-assisted landing on the Moon.
• March 1 - Venera 3 Soviet space probe crashes on Venus becoming the first spacecraft to land on another planet's surface.
• March 31 - The Soviet Union launches Luna 10 which later becomes the first spaceprobe to enter orbit around the moon.

Computer science

• Martin Richards designs the BCPL programming language.

Awards

• Nobel Prizes
  • Physics - Alfred Kastler
  • Chemistry - Robert S. Mulliken
  • Medicine - Peyton Rous, Charles Brenton Huggins
• Turing Award - A.J. Perlis

Births

Deaths

• January 15 - Sergei Korolev (b. 1907), space scientist.
• March 1 - Fritz Houtermans (b. 1903), physicist.
• July 7 - George de Hevesy (b. 1885), chemist Nobel laureate.