Glenn Orbits Earth: First American in Space
John Glenn completed three orbits around Earth in four hours and 55 minutes aboard Friendship 7, proving Americans could match Soviet spaceflight capabilities. This achievement galvanized public support for the Mercury program and accelerated NASA's push toward landing a man on the moon.
February 20, 1962
64 years ago
Key Figures & Places
Earth
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Mercury program
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Mercury Atlas 6
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John Glenn
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Project Mercury
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Mercury-Atlas 6
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John Glenn
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Earth
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United States
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Enewetak Atoll
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Vuelo espacial
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Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
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Universo
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Yuri Gagarin
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What Else Happened on February 20
The Visconti family was fighting itself. Lodrisio Visconti, exiled from Milan, hired the Company of St. George — 2,500 German mercenaries who'd never lost a bat…
King Christian I of Denmark and Norway pledged the Orkney and Shetland islands to Scotland as collateral for his daughter Margaret’s dowry. When he failed to pa…
King Christian I of Denmark pawned the Orkney and Shetland islands to Scotland to cover his daughter Margaret’s unpaid dowry. This desperate financial maneuver …
Ponce de León left Puerto Rico with 200 settlers, two ships, and a land grant from the Spanish Crown. He'd "discovered" Florida eight years earlier — meaning he…
Nine-year-old Edward VI received the crown at Westminster Abbey, becoming the first English monarch raised as a Protestant. His ascension accelerated the Englis…
Yohannan Sulaqa traveled to Rome to profess his Catholic faith, securing his ordination as the first Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church. This formal unio…
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