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• NASA was ready for the "Super Bowl of planetary exploration," said Doug McCuistion, head of the Mars exploration program at NASA headquarters.
• "We score and win or we don't score and we don't win," said McCuistion.
• If all goes well, mission control at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory should hear a signal at 10:31 p.m. Pacific. The space agency warned that confirmation could take longer if an orbiting spacecraft that's supposed to listen for Curiosity during the descent is not in the right place.
•

Island in New York Harbor.
• In 1912, the Progressive Party, also known as the "Bull Moose Party," convened in Chicago. (The party was formed by former President Theodore Roosevelt following a split in the Republican Party.)
• In 1921, a baseball game was broadcast for the first time as KDKA radio announcer Harold Arlin described the action between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Philadelphia Phillies from Forbes Field. (The Pirates won, 8-5.)
• In 1924, the comic strip "Little Orphan Annie" by Harold Gray made its debut.
• In 1936, Jesse Owens of the United States won the 200-meter dash at the Berlin Olympics, collecting the third of his four gold medals.
• In 1953, Operation Big Switch began as prisoners taken during the Korean conflict were exchanged at Panmunjom.
• In 1961, the amusement park Six Flags Over Texas had its official grand opening day in Arlington.

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