By: HISTORY.com Editors

1968

Apollo 8 departs for lunar orbit

HISTORY.com Editors

Published: February 09, 2010Last Updated: May 28, 2025

Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon, is successfully launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, with astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell, Jr. and William Anders aboard.

NASA's Early Years

In 1958, NASA was founded and quickly took up the goal of sending a man into Earth's orbit -- and safely returning him home. Seven men were chosen for Project Mercury, embarking on years of training to prepare for a journey no one had made before.

On Christmas Eve, the astronauts entered into orbit around the moon, the first manned spacecraft ever to do so. During Apollo 8‘s 10 lunar orbits, television images were sent back home, and spectacular photos were taken of Earth and the moon from the spacecraft. In addition to being the first human beings to view firsthand their home world in its entirety, the three astronauts were also the first to see the far side of the moon.

On Christmas morning, Apollo 8 left its lunar orbit and began its journey back to Earth, landing safely in the Pacific Ocean on December 27. On July 20 of the next year, Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, astronauts of the Apollo 11 mission, became the first men to walk on the moon.

Timeline

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Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on December 21st

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Determined to challenge the growing American military presence in their territory, Native Americans in northern Wyoming lure Lieutenant Colonel William Fetterman and his soldiers into a deadly ambush on December 21, 1866. With 81 fatalities, the Fetterman Massacre was the army’s worst defeat in the West until the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876. Tensions […]

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First basketball game played

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General George S. Patton dies

General George S. Patton, commander of the U.S. 3rd Army, dies from injuries suffered not in battle but in a freak car accident. He was 60 years old. Descended from a long line of military men, Patton graduated from the West Point Military Academy in 1909. He represented the United States in the 1912 Olympics-as […]

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A sensationalized murder trial inspires “The Fugitive”

On December 21, 1954, Dr. Sam Sheppard is convicted for beating his wife, Marilyn, to death inside their suburban home in Cleveland, Ohio five months earlier. Sheppard claimed to have fallen asleep in the family’s living room and awakened to find a man with bushy hair fleeing the scene. The authorities, who uncovered the fact […]

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Charles de Gaulle elected president of France

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“The Graduate” opens in New York

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President Nixon meets Elvis Presley

On December 21, 1970, rock star Elvis Presley is greeted at the White House by President Richard M. Nixon. Presley’s visit was not just a social call: He wanted to meet Nixon in order to offer his services in the government’s war on drugs. Three weeks earlier, Presley, who wanted to distance himself from rock-and-roll’s […]

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Socialite Sunny von Bulow is found comatose

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Pan Am Flight 103 explodes over Scotland

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Lockerbie Bombing

“Curious George” co-creator Margret Rey dies

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Curious George book cover

“Gangnam Style” becomes the first YouTube video to reach one billion views

On December 21, 2012, the music video for “Gangnam Style,” a song by the Korean rapper Psy, becomes the first YouTube video to garner one billion views. The video’s global popularity is a case study in the power and unpredictability of viral internet content. Psy had been well-known in Korea for a decade, earning awards […]

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Citation Information

Article title: Apollo 8 departs for lunar orbit
Author: HISTORY.com Editors
Website Name: History
URL: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/december-21/apollo-8-departs-for-moons-orbit

Date Accessed: August 22, 2025
Publisher: A&E Television Networks
Last Updated: May 28, 2025
Original Published Date: February 09, 2010

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