"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" - Neil Armstrong (7/20/69)...
This was the day that JFK dreamed of when he told Congress "this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth". That was part of his speech to a special joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961. Oh, if he had only been able to watch the events on the moon unfold...
Well, one of the things that astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin proved was that the moon was not made out of cheese otherwise they would have been the bacon in some gigantic grilled cheese sandwich floating in space for all eternity. Instead they planted the American flag, walked the surface of the moon and hit a golf ball still orbiting in space 37 years later but no worries - if it does come down it will fall in the Indian Ocean, where all of the cosmos will probably wind up...
Wasn't there a 3rd astronaut you might ask. The answer to that is that someone had to stay with the double-parked command module and that was Michael Collins' job. By the way, the astronauts left behind a plaque which read: "Here, men from the planet Earth first set foot on the moon--July, 1969 A.D.--We came in peace for all mankind". The cherry on the whipped cream...
Ten Timeline Memories...
1858] All-Star baseball teams from Brooklyn and Manhattan play the 1st in a series of 3 games at Fashion Park Race Course on Long Island. For the 1st time, admission (50 cents) was charged for watching a game. It will be 11 more years before the 1st players, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, will get paid to play...
1881] Sioux Indian leader Sitting Bull, a fugitive since the Battle of the Little Big Horn, surrenders to federal troops...
1931] CBS airs the 1st radio and television simulcast. The show features singer Kate Smith, songwriter George Gershwin and New York City Mayor Jimmy Walker (no, not J.J.)...
1940] Billboard publishes its 1st "Music Popularity Chart". The 1st #1 hit ? "I'll Never Smile Again" by Frank Sinatra (actually the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra w/vocal by "Old Blue Eyes")...
1958] After a decade on the air, the final episode of "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts" airs. Stars that cut their teeth on this show include Rosemary Clooney, Pat Boone, Steve Lawrence, Connie Francis and Patsy Cline. P.S. Elvis flunked his audition in 1955...
1968] Jane Asher breaks her engagement to Paul McCartney on a live British TV show...
1976] Hank Aaron hits his 755th and final home run off of Angels pitcher Jerry Augustine...
1984] Vanessa Williams is asked to resign as Miss America for posing nude (leading to: "Vanessa the undressa") in Penthouse. Suzette Charles will replace her (Vanessa became the 1st, Suzette the 2nd, black Miss America)...
1988] Boston's Michael Dukakis is chosen as the Democrat's presidential nominee (I used to see Mike on the "green line" of the T on the way to Riverside station back in the early 70's)...
1993] White House deputy counsel Vince Foster is found shot to death in a park near Washington in an apparent suicide (hmmmm)...
[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline]...
"Happy Birthday...happy birthday"...
"Lost" star Josh ("Sawyer") Holloway (37), Carlos Santana (59), Kim Carnes (60), Diana ("Emma Peel") Rigg (68), Nelson Doubleday Jr. (former co-owner of Mets) (73), Sally Ann Howes (76) and Basketball Hall of Fame coach Chuck Daly (76)...
Timeline Countdown: 164 days left in 2006, 47 days until Labor Day, 51 days until NFL Kickoff and 76 days until the MLB playoffs...
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