1969: The crew of Apollo 11 - Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins - returns to Earth. On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first man to step foot on the moon. Buzz Aldrin was the second. The crew splashed down off of Hawaii. NASA: Kennedy's challenge [1962] has been met. Men from Earth have walked on the moon and returned safely home. In a post-flight press conference, Armstrong calls the flight "a beginning of a new age," while Collins talks about future journeys to Mars. Over the next three and a half years, 10 astronauts will follow in their footsteps. Gene Cernan, commander of the last Apollo mission leaves the lunar surface with these words: "We leave as we came and, god willing, as we shall return, with peace, and hope for all mankind."

1897: Amelia Earhart, first woman pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean in 1928 and who subsequently disappeared in an attempt to fly around the world in 1937, was born in Kansas.