The Weekly Almanac with Tiki Jane August 23, 2026

On this day in 2023, India became the fourth country to land a spacecraft on the Moon; its Chandrayaan-3 probe was also the first to land in the Moon’s south polar region. The Moon's south pole is a highly coveted region because deep craters remain in permanent shadow, potentially harboring large reserves of frozen water and valuable minerals. On this day in 2000, The first season of the U.S. version of the reality TV game show Survivor ended, with Richard Hatch being pronounced the winner; the hugely popular series was credited with launching the reality TV fad of the early 21st century. American basketball player Kobe Bryant, one of the NBA’s leading players in the early 21st century, was born in Philadelphia, on this day in 1978. A botched bank robbery in Stockholm resulted in a hostage situation, and, over the course of a six-day standoff, the captives formed an unlikely bond with their captor, giving rise to the term “Stockholm syndrome.” On this day in 1973 “The Great Lover,” motion-picture actor Rudolph Valentino, died suddenly at age 31, prompting widespread public grief from his fans, on this day in 1926.