SANDY KOZEL

NASA announced the selection of America’s first seven astronauts
on this day in 1959.

CARLATA BRADLEY

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).

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.

1961

TV movie, 2001

MIKE  GRACIA

    

On this day in 1958, Explorer 1 became the United States’ first
satellite in space. The launch of the satellite — twice the size
of a basketball — was an important moment for the country,
as the Space Race with the Soviet Union was just beginning.

The three men responsible for the success of Explorer 1, at left is Dr. William H. Pickering, former director of JPL, which built and operated
the satellite. Dr. James A. van Allen, center, of the State University of Iowa, designed and built the instrument on Explorer that discovered
the radiation belts which circle the Earth. At right is Dr. Wernher von Braun, leader of the Army’s Redstone Arsenal team which built the
first stage Redstone rocket that launched Explorer 1.

On this day in 1945, Private Eddie Donald Slovik became the only
U.S. soldier since the American Civil War to be executed for
desertion.

ED DANAHUE

Carol Elaine Channing (January 31, 1921 – January 15, 2019)

The White House announced the start of Operation Desert Storm on
this day in 1991. The operation was designed to drive Iraqi forces
out of Kuwait. Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf is shown above at ease
with his tank troops in Saudi Arabia in January 12, 1991 before the
U.S. executed the operation. 

On the evening of January 16,1991, President George H. W. Bush addressed the nation to discuss the launch of Operation Desert
Storm.

Coalition troops from Egypt, Syria, Oman, France and Kuwait
during Operation Desert Storm.

The launch of Space Shuttle Columbia was planned to begin on
January 11, 2001, but the mission was delayed 18 times and
eventually launched on January 16, 2003 (above).  

Remains of a helmet found in a field after the space shuttle Columbia disaster.

On this day in 1998, President Bill Clinton, America’s chief
executive, was impeached on two charges of perjury and
obstruction of justice by the U.S. House of Representatives,
becoming only the second president to be ordered to stand
trial in the Senate since Andrew Johnson in 1868.

President Bill Clinton speaks about the Monica Lewinsky scandal at 
the White House on January 26, 1998 as First Lady Hillary Clinton
looks on.

On this day in 1972, Apollo 17 splashed down in the Pacific,
ending the Apollo program of manned lunar landings.

The three astronauts (from left to right – Eugene Cernan, Ronald
Evans and Harrison Schmitt) get the red-carpet welcome back.