The New York Times published an editorial on this date in 1920 that took to task the rocket pioneer Robert H. Goddard for his thought that someday rockets could be used to travel to the moon (and beyond).

How would rockets possibly work in the vacuum of space? the writers wondered. After all, thanks to Isaac Newton, any schoolkid knew that actions work as a reaction, and, in the vacuum of space, where would the reaction take place? Here is some of the Times’ fussy editorial (after the jump):
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Super Bowl III, in which the New York Jets defeated the heavily favored Baltimore Colts by the score of 16–7, took place 48 years ago today.

Jets quarterback Joe Namath, seen above, went 17 for 28 and threw for 206 yards. It remains the Jets’ only SuperBowl win and appearance.
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Smoking and Health: Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General of the United States was published on this date in 1964.

Studies had been conducted in an attempt to discern causal connections between smoking and negative health effects for a number of years. The report was not the first to find causal connections, but it may have been the one to have the largest effect: it is this report that ultimately led to the “Surgeon General’s Warning” affixed to every pack of cigarettes sold in America starting in the late 1960s, such as seen above.
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