The barren, cratered surface of Venus, Lavinia Planitia. (Magellan radar imagery)

May 2, 1952 – A De Havilland 'Comet-1' makes the first jetliner flight with fare-paying passengers, from London to Johannesburg. The beginning of a new era in passenger aviation

Suni Williams (left) and Butch Wilmore, the crew of the first Crew Flight Test in Boeing's new Starliner spacecraft, set for May 6, 2024

Small, dark, spider-like features were spotted across Mars' Inca City region, located near the planet’s south pole. (Image credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin)

May 1, 1931 – New York City's Empire State Building, at the time the tallest building in the world, opened.

May 1, 1786 — Wolfgang Mozart 's opera «The Marriage of Figaro» premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna

May 1, 1707 – The Act of Union joining England and Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain takes effect

Modern view of the Peristyle in Diocletian's Palace. Split, Croatia

Cityscape at sunset over the Nyhavn Canal, a gateway from the sea to the old city, Copenhagen, Denmark

April 29, 1770 – James Cook arrives in Australia at Botany Bay, which he names.

April 29, 1429 – Joan of Arc arrives to relieve the Siege of Orléans.

The James Webb telescope began to explore the planet K2-18b - carbon dioxide and methane were discovered in its atmosphere. K2-18b is potentially habitable, covered in oceans, and about 2.6 times the size of Earth. It is located 120 light years from our planet.

April 28, 1973 – 'The Dark Side of the Moon' by Pink Floyd goes to number one on the US Billboard chart, beginning a record-breaking 741-week chart run.

April 28, 1947 – Thor Heyerdahl and five crew mates set out from Peru on the 'Kon-Tiki' to demonstrate that Peruvian natives could have settled Polynesia.

This composite image compares the paths of totality across North America during the 2017 and 2024 total solar eclipses.

The Duchess Anna Amalia Library in Weimar, Germany

April 27, 1810 - Beethoven composed the bagatelle «Für Elise» (published more than half a century later)

April 26, 1564 – Playwright William Shakespeare is baptized in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England (date of birth is unknown)

April 26, 121 – Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor and a Stoic philosopher, was born

April 25, 1983 – Pioneer 10 travels beyond Pluto's orbit.