1983 - A Soyuz-U fails to launch a manned mission which would have been Soyuz T-10 if it had reached orbit. The rocket exploded after a fire on the launch pad, the three cosmonauts aboard survived through use of the launch escape system.
2008 - SpaceX conducts the first successful launch of a Falcon 1 rocket, at the fourth attempt, making it the first privately funded liquid-fuelled rocket to reach orbit.