May 5, 2026
First American in Space (1961)
In 1961, 23 days after Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit Earth, astronaut Alan Shepard became the first American to be launched into space. Shepard's suborbital flight—part of the US space program Project Mercury—reached a height of 115 miles (185 km). He performed several maneuvers of his capsule, Freedom 7, but returned after only a 15-minute flight. Although Gagarin was the first human in space, Shepard was the first to return in what way?
May 4, 2026
Jesse Tafero's Execution Goes Horribly Wrong (1990)
Accused of the fatal shooting of a Florida Highway Patrol officer and a visiting Canadian constable, Tafero was convicted of murder in 1976 and sentenced to death. His execution by electrocution in 1990 was grisly. Lasting more than 13 minutes, it took three separate jolts of electricity and caused flames to shoot out of his head. Later, the conviction of Tafero's girlfriend—obtained with the same evidence that implicated Tafero—was overturned, and someone confessed to the murders. Who was it?
May 3, 2026
Three-Year-Old Madeleine McCann Goes Missing (2007)
A few weeks before her fourth birthday, Madeleine McCann disappeared from an apartment in Portugal, where she, her parents, and her twin siblings were on vacation. Her disappearance received international press coverage, but despite numerous investigations by several different agencies, young Madeleine remains missing and no arrests have been made in the case. However, Portuguese authorities at different times categorized several individuals as having arguido status, which means what?
