1960s Timeline

Feb. 20, 1962 - Leigh Wade (pictured third from left in 1924) got out of bed at 6:30 a.m. today to watch on television as Lieut. Col....

Feb. 20, 1962 - One of the voices most frequently heard around the world today was that of a 5-foot-6, 39-year-old former bomber pilot...

Feb. 20, 1962 - Following is the text of President Kennedy’s statement on Colonel Glenn’s flight: “I know that I express the great...

Feb. 20, 1962 - The orbital flight of Colonel Glenn proved today to be a sort of super goodwill tour. Expressions of sympathy, pride and...

Feb. 20, 1962 - The parents of Lieut. Col. John Glenn Jr. (pictured in 1945), radiant and relieved that their long wait was over, said...

Feb. 20, 1962 - Following is the transcription of a telephone conversation between President Kennedy and Colonel Glenn this afternoon:...

Feb. 20, 1962 - The radio-TV audience for Colonel Glenn’s orbital flight today was enormous. Frank McGee of NBC reported that more than...

Feb. 20, 1962 - The three-orbit flight around the world by Lieut. Col. John Glenn Jr. today puts man closer to the moon. The next step...

Feb. 20, 1962 - The United States Marine Corps threw out its chest with pride and admiration today over the successful orbiting of Marine...

Feb. 20, 1962 - About 20 minutes after he had soared aloft, Lieut. Col. John H. Glenn Jr. had his first snack in space. The Mercury...

Feb. 20, 1962 - John H. Glenn Jr. orbited three times around the earth today and landed safely to become the first American to make such...

Feb. 19, 1962 - The prospects for sending Lieut. Col. John H. Glenn Jr. into orbit tomorrow seem better than they have for a week. The...

Feb. 14, 1962 - Storms in the Atlantic caused another postponement today in the attempt to send Lieut. Col. John H. Glenn Jr. into orbit...

Jan. 28, 1962 - “The Race to Space” is a documentary which chronicles some of the space accomplishments of the past year. #nasa...

Jan. 26, 1962 - Senator Paul H. Douglas (pictured second from left in 1958) said today that he and many astronomers question the wisdom...

Jan. 26, 1962 - An attempt to send the Ranger 3, a complex 727-pound spacecraft, to take close-up television pictures of the moon failed...

Jan. 22, 1962 - An attempt to rocket John H. Glenn Jr. into orbit was postponed today from Wednesday to Saturday at the earliest. The...

Jan. 4, 1962 - Lieut. Col. John H. Glenn Jr., who is scheduled to attempt an orbital flight later this month, was the subject of an ABC...

Nov. 29, 1961 - A male chimpanzee named Enos flew two 17,500-mile-an-hour orbits around the earth today. The flight, in a Project Mercury...

Nov. 28, 1961 - President Kennedy awarded the Harmon International Trophy for Aviators today to three test pilots of the X-15 rocket...