HISTORY honors astronaut and former Ohio senator John Glenn, who died on December 8, 2016 at the age of 95.

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Lt. Col. John H. Glenn, the first American astronaut to orbit Earth, holds a press conference in January 1964 to announce his candidacy for Senate to represent his home state of Ohio.

On March 1, 1962, New York City honored astronaut John Glenn by showering him with 3,474 tons of ticker tape to celebrate his return from his first space flight. Aboard Friendship 7, Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth. Following the historic parade, Glenn expresses his gratitude to the thousands of spectators gathered at City Hall.

On October 29, 1998, the NASA Mission Control countdown of the launch of space shuttle Discovery remarks on the historic return to space by crew member John Glenn. Four decades earlier, Glenn had been the first American to orbit Earth.

In this "This Day in History" video clip learn about different events that have occurred on October 29th. Some of the events include Black Tuesday when the stock market crashed and when Israel invaded the Sinai Peninsula. Also, Muhammad Ali won his first fight and John Glenn returned to space.

This is the story of Ham, the first hominid to be launched into space. After his brave space mission, Ham splashes down in the Atlantic Ocean, to emerge from the rocket with nothing but a mere bruise on his nose.

On December 8, 1980, former Beatle John Lennon was shot and killed outside the Dakota, his apartment building on Manhattan's Upper West Side, by a gunman later identified as Mark Chapman. The next day, a bystander recalls the incident in a recorded interview.