1976 the american viking 1 lander successfully lands on mars
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1976 50 years ago Selected Events July 25 3 sources

The orbiting spacecraft Viking 1 took a photograph of an apparent face on Mars in a classic example of pareidolia.

On July 25, in the year 1976, The orbiting spacecraft Viking 1 took a photograph of an apparent face on Mars in a classic example of pareidolia. This event is recorded as a Selected Events event in the history of July 25, one of 473 recorded events on this date across all of history.

Viking 1 was the first of two spacecraft, along with Viking 2, each consisting of an orbiter and a lander, sent to Mars as part of NASA's Viking program. The lander touched down on Mars on July 20, 1976, the first successful Mars lander in history. Viking 1 operated on Mars for 2,307 days or 2245 Martian solar days, the longest extraterrestrial surface mission until the record was broken by the Opportunity rover on May 19, 2010.

Key Facts

  • This event took place on July 25, 1976 (AD era).
  • It is categorised as a Selected Events event in recorded history.
  • Referenced in 3 Wikipedia articles.
  • Wikipedia source last updated on 8 May 2026.

On This Date in History 473

Type Year Date Event
Notable Deaths 2024 Jul 25 Shafin Ahmed, Bangladeshi bassist and singer-songwriter (born 1961)
Notable Deaths 2024 Jul 25 Martin Indyk, American diplomat (born 1951)
Notable Deaths 2022 Jul 25 Paul Sorvino, American actor (born 1939)
Selected Events 2022 Jul 25 The Duffield Memorial (central medallion pictured), an "unusual example of Art Nouveau design in metal work", is…
Selected Events 2022 Jul 25 The Duffield Memorial (central medallion pictured) in Great Baddow, an "unusual example of Art Nouveau design in metal…
Notable Deaths 2020 Jul 25 Regis Philbin, American actor and television host (born 1931)
Notable Deaths 2020 Jul 25 Peter Green, English blues rock guitarist, singer-songwriter and founder of Fleetwood Mac (born 1946)
Notable Deaths 2020 Jul 25 Lou Henson, American college basketball coach (born 1932)
Historical Events 2019 Jul 25 National extreme heat records set this day in the UK, Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany during the July 2019…
Notable Deaths 2019 Jul 25 Beji Caid Essebsi, 4th President and 9th Prime Minister of Tunisia (born 1926)
Historical Events 2018 Jul 25 As-Suwayda attacks: Coordinated attacks occur in Syria.
Notable Deaths 2018 Jul 25 Sergio Marchionne, Italian-Canadian businessman (born 1952)
Notable Deaths 2017 Jul 25 Michael Johnson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1944)
Notable Deaths 2016 Jul 25 Tim LaHaye, American Christian minister and author (born 1926)
Notable Deaths 2016 Jul 25 Tom Peterson, American television personality (born 1930)
Notable Deaths 2015 Jul 25 Jacques Andreani, French diplomat, French ambassador to the United States (born 1929)
Notable Deaths 2015 Jul 25 R. S. Gavai, Indian lawyer and politician, 18th Governor of Kerala (born 1929)
Notable Deaths 2015 Jul 25 Bob Kauffman, American basketball player and coach (born 1946)
Notable Deaths 2014 Jul 25 Bel Kaufman, German-American author and academic (born 1911)
Notable Deaths 2014 Jul 25 Richard Larter, Australian painter and illustrator (born 1929)
Notable Deaths 2013 Jul 25 Walter De Maria, American sculptor, illustrator, and composer (born 1935)
Notable Deaths 2013 Jul 25 William J. Guste, American lawyer and politician (born 1922)
Notable Deaths 2013 Jul 25 Hugh Huxley, English-American biologist and academic (born 1924)
Notable Deaths 2012 Jul 25 B. R. Ishara, Indian director and screenwriter (born 1934)
Notable Deaths 2012 Jul 25 Barry Langford, English director and producer (born 1926)
Notable Deaths 2012 Jul 25 Greg Mohns, American-Canadian football player and coach (born 1950)
Notable Deaths 2012 Jul 25 Franz West, Austrian painter and sculptor (born 1947)
Notable Deaths 2011 Jul 25 Michael Cacoyannis, Cypriot-Greek director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1922)
Historical Events 2010 Jul 25 WikiLeaks publishes classified documents about the War in Afghanistan, one of the largest leaks in U.S. military…
Selected Events 2010 Jul 25 WikiLeaks published 75,000 classified documents about the War in Afghanistan in one of the largest leaks in U.S.…
Notable Deaths 2009 Jul 25 Vernon Forrest, American boxer (born 1971)
Notable Deaths 2009 Jul 25 Stanley Middleton, English author (born 1919)
Notable Deaths 2009 Jul 25 Harry Patch, English soldier (born 1898)
Notable Deaths 2009 Jul 25 Yasmin Ahmad, Malaysian film director (born 1958)
Notable Deaths 2008 Jul 25 Jeff Fehring, Australian footballer (born 1955)
Notable Deaths 2008 Jul 25 Tracy Hall, American chemist and academic (born 1919)
Notable Deaths 2008 Jul 25 Randy Pausch, American computer scientist and educator (born 1960)
Historical Events 2007 Jul 25 Pratibha Patil is sworn in as India's first female president.
Notable Deaths 2007 Jul 25 Bernd Jakubowski, German footballer and manager (born 1952)
Selected Events 2007 Jul 25 Pratibha Patil was sworn in as the first female president of India.
Notable Deaths 2006 Jul 25 Ezra Fleischer, Romanian-Israeli poet and philologist (born 1928)
Notable Deaths 2005 Jul 25 Albert Mangelsdorff, German trombonist (born 1928)
Notable Deaths 2004 Jul 25 John Passmore, Australian philosopher and academic (born 1914)
Notable Deaths 2003 Jul 25 Ludwig Bölkow, German engineer (born 1912)
Notable Deaths 2003 Jul 25 John Schlesinger, English actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1926)
Notable Births 2002 Jul 25 Alperen Şengün, Turkish basketball player
Notable Births 2002 Jul 25 Adam Hložek, Czech footballer
Notable Deaths 2002 Jul 25 Abdel Rahman Badawi, Egyptian philosopher and poet (born 1917)
Historical Events 2001 Jul 25 Phoolan Devi, a serving Member of Parliament, was assassinated by shooting in New Delhi, India.
Notable Births 2001 Jul 25 Bryce Young, American football player

This article draws on content from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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