Interested in the history of science? This week in science history features the discovery of a life-sustaining element, as well as the founding of America's space agency--and the birthday of one of its most celebrated astronauts.

Check out the slideshow below to relive these and other landmark events.

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  • Oxygen Discovery

    British minister Joseph Priestley discovered the element oxygen (or what he called "dephlogisticated air") on August 1, 1774, by examining the red rust created when mercury is heated. Although the element's discoverer was disputed, Priestley received much of the credit after he published his findings in 1775.

  • Happy Census Day!

    The first U.S. census was held in 1790, recording the population as of Aug. 2 that year. The census, which was mandated in the Constitution, compiled an enormous amount of data that had to be manually tabulated.

  • Neanderthal Discovery

    On August 3, 1908 two clergymen discovered a nearly complete, buried skeleton of a Neanderthal in a cave at La Chapelle-aux-Saints, France. This was the first recognized Neanderthal discovery, and later archaeological digs in the area turned up more than 1,000 other fossil pieces.

  • Moon Man's Birthday

    Aug. 5 marks the first giant leap for Neil Armstrong. The first man to walk on the moon was born on that date in 1930 in Wapakoneta, Ohio. Besides being a NASA astronaut, Armstrong was a test pilot, aerospace engineer, university professor and U.S. Naval Aviator.

  • NASA Is Born

    On July 29, 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act. The act created the the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA. Since then NASA has put men on the moon, satellites into orbit and spacecraft to the edge of the solar system.

  • Reaching The North Pole

    The USS Nautilus became the first submarine to travel beneath the geographic North Pole on August 3, 1958. The world's first operational nuclear-powered submarine, the Nautilus traveled underneath the arctic ice sheet from the Barrow Sea Valley to Greenland.

  • Quasar Discovery

    Astronomers discovered the first known quasar, or quasi-stellar radio source, on August 5, 1962. Previously known as radio source 3C 273, the quasar was described as a star-like object with a visible jet by Dutch astronomer Maarten Schmidt.

  • First Moon Photos

    On July 31, 1964, the first close-up images of the moon's surface were returned by the U.S. space probe Ranger 7. These historic pictures were taken from about 830 miles away. The images paved the way for the moon landing five years later.

  • A Drive On The Moon

    Dave Scott became the first person to drive a vehicle on the moon on July 31, 1971, when he took the battery-powered Lunar Rover (LRV) for a spin. As part of the Apollo 15 mission, Scott drove in the Hadley-Apennine region of the moon in the 460-pound rover.

  • First Moon Burial

    Astronomer Eugene Shoemaker received the first and only moon burial on July 31, 1999. Dr. Shoemaker's ashes were deposited on the moon's surface when NASA's Lunar Prospector spacecraft was intentionally crashed to end its 19-month mission. Shoemaker co-discovered the Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, and is considered one of the founders of the field of planetary science.

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