Pioneer 8 launched 1967

Pioneer 8, launched December 13, 1967, was the third of four satellites NASA launched to study the sun.  They were designed to make the first detailed, comprehensive measurements of the solar wind, magnetic field and cosmic rays.

Contact was made with Pioneer 8 in August 1996.  As recently as 2000, NASA made contact with Pioneer 6, launched the December before.  Although that was the last time, NASA believes contact can be made with Pioneers 6-8.  Pioneer 9 is definitely not working. 

The Twilight Zone episode "The Midnight Sun" airs 1961

The tenth episode of the third season of The Twilight Zone, The Midnight Sun, aired November 17, 1961.  Norma (Lois Nettleton) and her neighbor Mrs. Bronson (Betty Garde) suffer from an increasingly oppressive heat wave, caused when the Earth falls out of orbit and begins getting nearer to the sun.  

The threat of nuclear apocalypse was a recurring theme in the Twilight Zone, since the Cold War was at its height during this time, but this episode is pure science fiction.  

It also has one of the best twists at the end of any episode.

The Vatican admits Galileo was right all along 359 years later, 1992

October 31, 1992, the Catholic Church, the Vatican and Pope John Paul II finally admitted the church "erred" when it prosecuted Galilei Galileo for heresy, because he promoted the Copernican theory that the Earth revolved around the sun, not the other way around.  

In 1633, Catholic prosecutors argued that the sun revolving around the Earth was explicitly stated in the Bible.  

Exactly which passage says that?  Show your work, guys!

Comet Howard–Koomen–Michels collides with Sun 1979

Comet Howard-Koomen-Michels, a sungrazer comet, collided with the sun August 30, 1979.  At the time, it was the only know comet to crash into the sun since most comets are vaporized before they make contact with the solar surface.  It is also the first comet to be discovered by a spacecraft.

This probably isn't Comet Howard-Koomen-Michels but it is a good video of a comet colliding with the sun.