John Glenn made space history on this day in 1962 when he orbited the Earth three times in 4 hours, 55 minutes, becoming the first American to do so. He was aboard the Friendship 7 Mercury capsule (above).
Mercury 6 launches Friendship 7 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
Here’s what John Glenn saw while orbiting the Earth.
Friendship 7 capsule after splashdown.
The successful mission concluded with a splashdown and recovery in the Atlantic Ocean, 800 miles southeast of Bermuda.
Sir Sidney Poitier is 92-years-old today.
Actor, director, and diplomat Sidney Poitier became the first African American to win an Oscar after performing in Lilies of the Field (1963). The films Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967) To Sir, with Love (1967) and In the Heat of the Night (1967), additionally bolstered his fame. The American Film Institute called him one of the 25 Greatest Male Stars of All Time in 1999.
Ralph Dale Earnhardt Sr. (April 29, 1951 – February 18, 2001)
NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, Sr., was killed in a crash during the final lap of the Daytona 500 race on this day in 2001. Earnhardt was inducted into numerous halls of fame, including the NASCAR Hall ofFame inaugural class in 2010.
Dale Earnhardt in car # 3 hits the wall hard in the 2001 Daytona 500.
John Joseph Travolta is 65 years old today.
Actor John Travolta starred in the 1970s hit films Saturday Night Fever and Grease. He went on to play Vincent Vega in the critically acclaimed 1994 film Pulp Fiction. Travolta also starred in the action thriller Face/Off (1997) with Nicolas Cage.
LONDON (AP) — British actor Albert Finney, the Academy Award-nominated star of films from "Tom Jones" to "Skyfall," has died.
Finney’s family said Friday that he "passed away peacefully after a short illness with those closest to him by his side."
Finney was a rare star who managed to avoid the Hollywood limelight for more than five decades after bursting to international fame in 1963 in the title role of "Tom Jones."
The film gained him the first of five Oscar nominations. Others followed for "Murder on the Orient Express," ”The Dresser," ”Under the Volcano" and "Erin Brockovich."
In later years he brought authority to action movies, including the James Bond thriller "Skyfall" and two of the Bourne films.