U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Guion S. Bluford became
the first African American to travel into space when the
space shuttle Challenger lifted off on its third mission. It
was the first night launch of a space shuttle, and many
people stayed up late to watch the spacecraft roar up
from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 2:32 a.m.

The Challenger spent six days in space, during which time
Bluford and his four fellow crew members launched a
communications satellite for the government of India,
made contact with an errant communications satellite,
conducted scientific experiments, and tested the shuttle’s
robotic arm.

Guion Stewart Bluford Jr. will be 82 years old on
November 22.

Ryan O’Neal (April 20, 1941 – December 8, 2023)

O’Neal was a native of Los Angeles, he trained as an amateur
boxer before beginning a career in acting in 1960. In 1964, he
landed the role of Rodney Harrington on the ABC nighttime
soap opera Peyton Place.

In April 2012, O’Neal stated he had been diagnosed with stage
4 prostate cancer. He later stated it was stage 2.

On June 3, 1965, 120 miles above the Earth, Major Edward H.
White II opened the hatch of the Gemini 4 and stepped out of
the capsule, becoming the first American astronaut to walk in
space. Attached to the craft by a 25-foot tether and controlling
his movements with a hand-held oxygen jet-propulsion gun,
White remained outside the capsule for just over 20 minutes. 

The western tv series Bonanza ran on NBC from
September 13, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting
14 seasons and 432 episodes, Bonanza is NBC’s
longest-running western, the second-longest-
running western series on U.S. network television
(behind CBS’s Gunsmoke), and one of the longest-
running, live-action American series.