By: HISTORY.com Editors
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.
Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on December 21st
In the first half of the 20th century, U.S. educators shunned homework. The Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik 1 changed that.
War. Assassinations. Riots. Violent protest clashes. America was certainly no stranger to political violence, but 1968 appeared to bring the bloodletting to new heights.
Marvel's groundbreaking superhero emerged in the 1960s—during the height of the civil rights movement.
During the same summer as the legendary Woodstock music festival, the Harlem concert series featured major African American artists against a backdrop of massive social change.
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