Alan Shepard (November 18, 1923 – July 21, 1998) was an American
astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot, and businessman. In 1961 he became
the second person and the first American to travel into space, and in
1971 he walked on the Moon (pictured). Shepard saw action with the
surface navy during World War II. He became a naval aviator in 1947,
and a test pilot in 1951. He was one of NASA's original Mercury Seven
astronauts in 1959, and in May 1961 he made his first spaceflight:
Mercury-Redstone 3, the first crewed Project Mercury flight. In 1971,
he commanded the Apollo 14 mission, piloting the Apollo Lunar Module
Antares. He became the fifth and the oldest person to walk on the Moon,
and the only one of the Mercury Seven astronauts to do so. He was
promoted to rear admiral in 1971, and was the first astronaut to reach
that rank. He was Chief of the Astronaut Office from November 1963 to
July 1969, and from June 1971 to April 1974. He retired from NASA and
the United States Navy in July 1974.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Shepard>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1977:
The Solomon Islands ratified the adoption of a new flag
(pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Solomon_Islands>
1978:
Jim Jones led more than 900 members of the Peoples Temple to
mass murder/suicide in Jonestown, Guyana, hours after some of its
members assassinated U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Ryan>
2003:
With its ruling in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health,
the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court made the state the first in the
U.S. to legalize same-sex marriage.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodridge_v._Department_of_Public_Health>
2017:
Cyclone Numa, a rare "medicane", made landfall in Greece to
become the worst weather event that the country had experienced since
1977.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Numa>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
the world is someone's oyster:
All opportunities are open to someone; the world is theirs.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/the_world_is_someone%27s_oyster>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Whatever stage of development it may reach, China will never
pursue hegemony or expansion, and will never impose its will on others.
China does not seek spheres of influence, and will not fight a cold war
or a hot war with anyone. … No matter how the global landscape
evolves, the historical trend of peaceful coexistence between China and
the United States will not change.
--Xi Jinping
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Xi_Jinping>
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