Finally, at a height of almost 19km, the balloon burst and the payload fell back to earth helped along by a parachute.

BBC: Giant weather balloon carries out its sky mission

Whereas Netscape's IPO symbolized the dawn of the dotcom boom, TheGlobe.com's epitomized the height of irrational exuberance and Google's ushered in a renaissance of tech innovation after the Internet bubble burst, LinkedIn's debut will be remembered as social media's arrival on the capitalist stage known as Wall Street.

CNN: LinkedIn's IPO is a watershed moment for social media

After his last sight of the pathetically stricken Brahms, stooped and fumbling with sausages over the stove, Mahler curiously burst out to a friend that he himself wanted to die at the height of his powers, before his works became weaker.

ECONOMIST: Composers�� lives: Setting it straight | The