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October 29: General Interest 1998: John Glenn returns to space Nearly four decades after he became the first American to orbit the Earth, Senator John Hershel Glenn, Jr., is launched into space again as a payload specialist aboard the space shuttle Discovery. At 77 years of age, Glenn was the oldest human ever to travel in space. During the nine-day mission, he served as part of a NASA study on health problems associated with aging. Glenn, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps, was among the seven men chosen by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1959 to become America's first astronauts. A decorated pilot, he had flown nearly 150 combat missions during World War II and the Korean War. In 1957, he made the first nonstop supersonic flight across the United States, flying from Los Angeles to New York in three hours and 23 minutes. In April 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was the first man in space, and his spacecraft, Vostok 1 , made a full orbit before returning to Earth. Less than one month later, American Alan B. Shepard, Jr., became the first American in space when his Freedom 7 spacecraft was launched on a suborbital flight. American "Gus" Grissom made another suborbital flight in July, and in August Soviet cosmonaut Gherman Titov spent more than 25 hours in space aboard Vostok 2, making 17 orbits. As a technological power, the United States was looking very much second-rate compared with its Cold War adversary. If the Americans wanted to dispel this notion, they needed a multi-orbital flight before another Soviet space advance arrived. On February 20, 1962, NASA and Colonel John Glenn accomplished this feat with the flight of Friendship 7, a spacecraft that made three orbits of the Earth in five hours. Glenn was hailed as a national hero, and on February 23 President John F. Kennedy visited him at Cape Canaveral. Glenn later addressed Congress and was given a ticker-tape parade in New York City. Out of a reluctance to risk the life of an astronaut as popular as Glenn, NASA essentially grounded the "Clean Marine" in the years after his historic flight. Frustrated with this uncharacteristic lack of activity, Glenn turned to politics and in 1964 announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate from his home state of Ohio and formally left NASA. Later that year, however, he withdrew his Senate bid after seriously injuring his inner ear in a fall from a horse. In 1970, following a stint as a Royal Crown Cola executive, he ran for the Senate again but lost the Democratic nomination to Howard Metzenbaum. Four years later, he defeated Metzenbaum, won the general election, and went on to win reelection three times. In 1984, he unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for president. In 1998, Glenn attracted considerable media attention when he returned to space aboard the space shuttle Discovery. In 1999, he retired from his U.S. Senate seat after four consecutive terms in office, a record for the state of Ohio. American Revolution 1777 : Hancock resigns as president of Congress http://www.history.com/this- Automotive 1971 : Guitarist Duane Allman dies in motorcycle accident http://www.history.com/this- Civil War 1863 : The Battle of Wauhatchie concludes http://www.history.com/this- Cold War 1956 : Israel invades Egypt; Suez Crisis begins http://www.history.com/this- Crime 1925 : Dominick Dunne, chronicler of high-profile crimes, is born http://www.history.com/this- Disaster 1948 : Killer smog claims elderly victims http://www.history.com/this- General Interest 1618 : Sir Walter Raleigh executed http://www.history.com/this- 1929 : Stock market crashes http://www.history.com/this- Hollywood 1947 : Richard Dreyfuss born http://www.history.com/this- Literary 1740 : James Boswell is born http://www.history.com/this- Music 1966 : "96 Tears" becomes a #1 hit for the enigmatic and influential ? and the Mysterians http://www.history.com/this- Old West 1858 : The first store opens in the frontier town of Denver, Colorado http://www.history.com/this- Presidential 1901 : McKinley assassin is executed http://www.history.com/this- Sports 1948 : Sandy Saddler beats Willie Pep for the first time http://www.history.com/this- Vietnam War 1969 : Bobby Seale gagged during his trial http://www.history.com/this- 1971 : U.S. troop strength reaches five-year low http://www.history.com/this- World War I 1915 : Jane Addams writes to Woodrow Wilson about dangers of preparing for war http://www.history.com/this- World War II 1942 : The British protest against the persecution of Jews http://www.history.com/this- |
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