Tragic coincidence

I had no idea that the three tragedies that have befallen the U.S. space program all occured at the same time of year.

"On January 27, 1967, tragedy struck the Apollo program when a flash fire occurred in command module 012 during a launch pad test of the Apollo/Saturn space vehicle being prepared for the first piloted flight, the AS-204 mission. Three astronauts, Lt. Col. Virgil I. Grissom, a veteran of Mercury and Gemini missions; Lt. Col. Edward H. White, the astronaut who had performed the first United States extravehicular activity during the Gemini program; and Roger B. Chaffee, an astronaut preparing for his first space flight, died in this tragic accident." ~nasa.gov

"On Jan. 28, 1986, space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, killing all seven crew members." ~NY Times

"On February 1, 2003, Columbia disintegrated during re-entry over Texas, on its 28th mission; all seven crew members aboard perished." ~Wikipedia