On October 31, 1936, a group of young engineers and students conducted a test near Pasadena, California, that is often treated as the founding event for what became the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Their experiments with liquid-fuel rockets were risky and informal. Over time, the group gained support from the California Institute of Technology and the U.S. military. During World War II, their work focused on rocketry and missile technology. After the war, JPL shifted toward space exploration and later became part of NASA. It has since managed many important space missions, including planetary probes and Mars rovers.
