Firsts, lasts in history

•On March 13, 1781, German-born English astronomer William Hershel discovers Uranus, the seventh planet from the sun. Herschel’s discovery, the first to be made by use of a telescope, allowed him to distinguish Uranus as a planet, not a star.

•On March 16, 1926, American Robert Goddard successfully launches the world’s first liquid-fueled rocket at Auburn, Mass. The 10-foot rocket, fueled by liquid oxygen and gasoline, traveled for 2.5 seconds at a speed of about 60 mph, reaching an altitude of 41 feet and landing 184 feet away.

•On March 17, 1901, paintings by the late Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh are shown in Paris, causing a sensation across the art world. Eleven years before, van Gogh had committed suicide without any notion that his work was destined to win acclaim. In his lifetime, he had sold only one painting.

•On March 19, 1831, the City Bank in downtown New York is robbed, the first recorded bank robbery in American history. The bank, located on New York’s newly booming Wall Street, lost $245,000 in the robbery, a tremendous amount of money at the time.