Don't ask Neil Armstrong for an autograph, he won't sign. Only a handful of men have been to the moon, and he was first. Armstrong was a fairly private person before he went to the moon, living in the mountains miles from Edwards Air Force Base instead of near the rest of the test pilots, the pressures of public appearance following Apollo 11 must have been painful. His carefully crafted comments on arrival on the surface (although he skipped a syllable when he actually said the words) are one indication of his sense that the mission was an accomplishment of a huge team, another sign is that the Apollo 11 mission patch is the only one that doesn't include the astronauts' names on it. Still very much alive, Armstrong got a new job this week.
It's a big day in the history of exploration and colonization. The first English colony in America landed in Newfoundland, the Pilgrims attempted to leave for their colony, and the Spanish were first to sail into San Francisco Bay. One of the best remembered naval exclamations of all time was shouted over the sounds of battle on this day, despite the reference to specific naval ordnance it may be the quintessential American attitude for the following century.
Twisted History must not appeal to many sports fans, only one reader caught my error in yesterday's sad tale of the demise of that seagull in Toronto. The fatal throw was from center field, but Dave Winfield was a right fielder. I guess that makes a difference to baseball fans, I just want to be accurate.
1583 - Sir Humphrey Gilbert lands at St John, Newfoundland, to found the first English colony in America. Gilbert, who perished with his ship on the return voyage, had a charter from Queen Elizabeth and a plan to oust Spain from America in favor of England and convert the natives to Christianity.
1620 - The Leyden Separatists (Pilgrims) set sail from Southampton, England in their 60-ton ship Speedwell and the hired 180-ton Mayflower. It is immediately apparent that the Speedwell, overweight and overmasted, is taking on water and the ships dock at Dartmouth for repairs.
1656 - Eight Quakers from England arrived in Boston and were immediately imprisoned by the local Puritan authorities. The church-and-state mix of the Puritan lifestyle regarded ritual-free Quakerism as theologically apostate and politically subversive.
1775 - The Spanish ship San Carlos, commanded by Juan Manuel de Ayala, became the first European vessel in San Francisco Bay. It had been overlooked by such accomplished naval explorers as Sir Francis Drake and Sebastián Vizcaíno, the San Carlos' captain was tipped off by Spanish scouts on land six years before.
1864 - Rear-Admiral David G. Farragut, lashed to the mast 25 feet above the deck of the Hartford to see over the smoke, goaded one of his captains by shouting "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!"
1914 - Day 2 of World War I - Montenegro declares war on Austria-Hungary; Argentina, Cuba, Mexico, and Uruguay proclaim neutrality.
Independence Day, Burkina Faso - Celebrates 1960 independence from France for this land-locked west African nation, known then as Upper Volta.
1930
- Neil Alden Armstrong, US astronaut - Born at Wapokoneta, Ohio,
took flying lessons at age 15, graduated from Blume High School and entered
Purdue University on Navy scholarship in 1947. Active duty as fighter
pilot in Korea 1950 to 1952, returned to Purdue and earned B.S. in aeronautical
engineering in 1955. Worked briefly for NACA at Lewis Research Center
in Cleveland, Ohio, transferred to Edward Air Force Base in California
as a test pilot, flying the X-15 to an altitude of 207,500 feet. Left
the Flight Research Center in 1962 to join the second group of astronaut
trainees at Houston, Texas, the first civilian in astronaut training (NACA
had become NASA). Served as backup for Gemini 5, was command pilot of
Gemini 8 mission that docked with an Agena booster already in orbit, equipment
failure consumed 75% of the fuel and forced an emergency reentry. Was
backup on Gemini 11 and Apllo 8, assigned as command pilot for Apollo
11 moon shot. After returning from moon spent months in debriefings and
traveling to make public appearances. Served as an administrator in NASA's
Advanced Research and Technology office in Washington City 1970 to 1971,
professor of engineering at University of Cincinnati (Ohio) until 1979,
went to work in the private sector. Vice chairman of the Rogers Commission
which investigated Challenger launch failure. Recipient Presidential Medal
of Freedom in 1969, Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy in 1970, the Congressional
Space Medal of Honor in 1978. Currently lives on a farm in Lebanon, Ohio,
was the chairman of the board of AIL Systems Inc., a Long Island, New
York electronic systems company until it's merger with EDO Corporation,
which elected Armstrong as chairman of the board on Thursday of this week.
The objection to Puritans is not that they try to make us think as they
do, but that they try to make us do as they think.
- H.L. Mencken
We shall have a race of men who are strong on telemetry and space communications
but who cannot read anything but a blueprint or write anything but a computer
program.
- John Kenneth Galbraith
If we die, we want people to accept it. We're in a risky business, and
we hope that if anything happens to us it will not delay the program.
The conquest of space is worth the risk of life.
- Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom
People travel to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge waves
of the sea, at the long courses of rivers, at the vast compass of the
ocean, at the circular motion of the stars; and they pass by themselves
without wondering.
- St. Augustine
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