July 20, 1969: At 4:17 PM, U.S. Eastern Time, the lunar module Eagle, of the Apollo 11 mission, landed on the Sea of Tranquility, on the side of the Moon facing Earth, 4 days after being launched from the John F. Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, on the Atlantic Coast of Florida.
(From 1963, when President Kennedy was assassinated, until 1973, the launch site was known as Cape Kennedy. The Florida legislature changed the name back. Since the NASA facility was still named for JFK, the Kennedy family publicly accepted the decision.)
The mission's commander was Lieutenant Junior Grade Neil Alden Armstrong, U.S. Navy, from Wapakoneta, in western Ohio, about halfway between Toledo and Dayton. In contact with Mission Control, in Houston, Texas, he spoke the 1st words any human had spoken from the surface of the Moon: "Houston, Tranquility Base here: The Eagle has landed."
With him, aboard Eagle, was the craft's pilot, Colonel Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr., U.S. Air Force, known as Buzz, of the New York suburb of Montclair, Essex County, New Jersey. Orbiting the Moon above them, in the command module Columbia, was Colonel Michael Collins, U.S. Air Force, who grew up in many places around the world, as his father was a high-ranking U.S. Army officer.
All 3 men reached their 39th birthdays during the course of calendar year 1969, and each was taking part in his 2nd spaceflight.
At 10:56 PM, Armstrong stepped down the ladder on the side of Eagle, and put his left foot down on the surface of the Moon. He chose his 1st words very carefully, knowing that the whole world would remember them: "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."
Except, between his Midwestern accent and the transmission of the words from the Moon to Houston, from Houston to the TV networks in New York, and from the networks in New York to the world, it sounded like he said, "One small step for man..." Which made no sense, as "man" and "mankind" were usually interchangeable.
It didn't matter. A man was standing on the Moon, and he was an American. Buzz Aldrin followed Armstrong a few minutes later. Four days later, they returned to Earth, and got a ticker-tape parade in New York City.
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Every Summer, my grandparents rented a bungalow at South Seaside Park, on the Jersey Shore. This was that weekend for 1969. They, and my parents, watched the Moon landing at The Sand Bar. Not yet born, I tell people I had "an obstructed view." The bar is still there, and is now Chef Mike's Atlantic Bar & Grill, or "The ABG." It is 84 road miles south of Midtown Manhattan.
None of the Apollo 11 astronauts suffered any ill effects from their trip. None of them ever went into space again. None had to.
Collins would be appointed an Assistant Secretary of State, and serve as the director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., where Columbia is on display. He died this past April 28, at the age of 90.
With him, aboard Eagle, was the craft's pilot, Colonel Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr., U.S. Air Force, known as Buzz, of the New York suburb of Montclair, Essex County, New Jersey. Orbiting the Moon above them, in the command module Columbia, was Colonel Michael Collins, U.S. Air Force, who grew up in many places around the world, as his father was a high-ranking U.S. Army officer.
All 3 men reached their 39th birthdays during the course of calendar year 1969, and each was taking part in his 2nd spaceflight.
At 10:56 PM, Armstrong stepped down the ladder on the side of Eagle, and put his left foot down on the surface of the Moon. He chose his 1st words very carefully, knowing that the whole world would remember them: "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."
Except, between his Midwestern accent and the transmission of the words from the Moon to Houston, from Houston to the TV networks in New York, and from the networks in New York to the world, it sounded like he said, "One small step for man..." Which made no sense, as "man" and "mankind" were usually interchangeable.
It didn't matter. A man was standing on the Moon, and he was an American. Buzz Aldrin followed Armstrong a few minutes later. Four days later, they returned to Earth, and got a ticker-tape parade in New York City.
None of the Apollo 11 astronauts suffered any ill effects from their trip. None of them ever went into space again. None had to.
Collins would be appointed an Assistant Secretary of State, and serve as the director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., where Columbia is on display. He died this past April 28, at the age of 90.
Aldrin battled clinical depression and alcoholism, recovered, and has become an advocate for recovery and for the space program. He is 91.
Armstrong was, for a time, the most famous man in the world, more so than the President, the Pope, or any athlete. He could have used his fame to make gobs of money. Basically a private person, he chose not to. He taught at the University of Cincinnati, and served on the commissions that investigated the near-disaster of Apollo 13 in 1970 and the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger in 1986.
In 1985, he was part of an expedition to the North Pole, led by a man who wanted to bring "the world's greatest explorers" together. Also on the expedition was Sir Edmund Hillary, the New Zealander who became the 1st man to reach the summit of the world's highest mountain, Mount Everest in Nepal, in 1953. By a weird twist of fate, the Moon landing was on Hillary's 50th birthday.
In 1985, he was part of an expedition to the North Pole, led by a man who wanted to bring "the world's greatest explorers" together. Also on the expedition was Sir Edmund Hillary, the New Zealander who became the 1st man to reach the summit of the world's highest mountain, Mount Everest in Nepal, in 1953. By a weird twist of fate, the Moon landing was on Hillary's 50th birthday.
Armstrong lived and worked on a farm near his Ohio hometown, and died of long-term heart trouble on August 25, 2012, at age 82.
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Landing on the Moon. Reaching the highest mountain. Running a mile in under 4 minutes, as Roger Bannister became the 1st man to do in 1954. Flying between the mainlands of North America and Europe, as Charles Lindbergh became the 1st man to do in 1927. These were huge events. Big deals were made of them at the time.
I was born at the end of 1969, 5 months after this epochal event. My generation -- even people 4 or 5 years older than I am -- can't remember a time when there had never been a man on the Moon.
Of course, most of us can't remember there being a man on the Moon, as Apollo 17 left on December 14, 1972, and there hasn't been a manned Moon landing since, launched by any nation.
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Landing on the Moon. Reaching the highest mountain. Running a mile in under 4 minutes, as Roger Bannister became the 1st man to do in 1954. Flying between the mainlands of North America and Europe, as Charles Lindbergh became the 1st man to do in 1927. These were huge events. Big deals were made of them at the time.
I was born at the end of 1969, 5 months after this epochal event. My generation -- even people 4 or 5 years older than I am -- can't remember a time when there had never been a man on the Moon.
Of course, most of us can't remember there being a man on the Moon, as Apollo 17 left on December 14, 1972, and there hasn't been a manned Moon landing since, launched by any nation.
But when Armstrong stopped onto the surface of the Moon at 10:56 PM Eastern Time on that magical night, and said, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind," it felt like the ultimate achievement. Like we could do anything. As Robert Creamer liked to say of Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak in 1941, "We did that. One of our boys. One of the human race did this marvelous thing."
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On July 20, 2010 -- it should have been a year earlier, on the 40th Anniversary of the event -- I listed the Major League Baseball games played on July 20, 1969, which was a Sunday. I did this because I'm a sports nut and a history buff. At the time, I did not know that I would end up making a regular "Scores On This Historic Day" feature for this blog 10 years later.
So, by allowing myself to copy-and-paste those scores today, I inadvertently gave myself a lucky break 11 years in advance.
In 1963, Gaylord Perry, a pretty good pitcher who made it to the Hall of Fame (some would say by cheating with illegal pitches), was taking batting practice with the San Francisco Giants, and their manager, Alvin Dark, said that man would land on the Moon before Perry hit a home run.
Well, Perry did indeed hit his 1st major league home run -- his 1st of 6, as it turned out -- on July 20, 1969, apparently just a few minutes after Apollo 11 landed on the Moon, but a few hours before Armstrong stepped onto its surface. So did anyone actually make this dubious, but oh-so-slightly true, prediction? It's uncertain.
On July 20, 1969, the Yankees were playing the Washington Senators, managed by Ted Williams, at the old Yankee Stadium. In the bottom of the 11th inning, Roy White doubled, and Gene Michael (not exactly a clutch hitter, not exactly any kind of hitter for that matter) singled him home to win, 3-2.
Other games on Moonday:
* The Mets split a doubleheader with the expansion Montreal Expos at Jarry Park in Montreal. The Expos won the 1st game, 3-2, with a Mack Jones homer off Gary Gentry making a winner of Gary Waslewski.
Well, Perry did indeed hit his 1st major league home run -- his 1st of 6, as it turned out -- on July 20, 1969, apparently just a few minutes after Apollo 11 landed on the Moon, but a few hours before Armstrong stepped onto its surface. So did anyone actually make this dubious, but oh-so-slightly true, prediction? It's uncertain.
On July 20, 1969, the Yankees were playing the Washington Senators, managed by Ted Williams, at the old Yankee Stadium. In the bottom of the 11th inning, Roy White doubled, and Gene Michael (not exactly a clutch hitter, not exactly any kind of hitter for that matter) singled him home to win, 3-2.
Other games on Moonday:
* The Mets split a doubleheader with the expansion Montreal Expos at Jarry Park in Montreal. The Expos won the 1st game, 3-2, with a Mack Jones homer off Gary Gentry making a winner of Gary Waslewski.
The Mets did recover pretty well from this one, starting with winning the 2nd game, 4-3, with a 10th-inning sequence very similar to the one the Yankees had in their game: A double by a starting outfielder with a lot of promise, in this case Ron Swoboda, followed by a game-winning single by a light-hitting infielder, in this case Bobby Pfeil. Don Cardwell started the nightcap for the Mets, but Ron Taylor blew a save before Jack DiLauro turned out to be the winning pitcher.
* The Phillies lost a doubleheader to the Chicago Cubs, 1-0 and 6-1 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia, with Ferguson Jenkins outdueling Grant Jackson in the 1st game and Dick Selma beating Bill Champion in the 2nd.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-5 at Fenway Park in Boston.
* The California Angels split a doubleheader with the Oakland Athletics at Anaheim Stadium in the Los Angeles suburb of Anaheim, California. The Angels took the 1st game, 7-3; the A's won the 2nd game, 9-6.
* Another doubleheader was played at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians in the opener, 3-2; the Tribe took the nightcap, 5-4 in 10 innings.
* It must have rained all over the country the day before, because a 5th doubleheader was played, at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The expansion Kansas City Royals swept the White Sox, winning the 1st game 8-6, then taking the 2nd 3-2 in 11.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the expansion Seattle Pilots (soon to become the Milwaukee Brewers), 4-0 at Sick's Stadium in Seattle.
* The Phillies lost a doubleheader to the Chicago Cubs, 1-0 and 6-1 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia, with Ferguson Jenkins outdueling Grant Jackson in the 1st game and Dick Selma beating Bill Champion in the 2nd.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-5 at Fenway Park in Boston.
* The California Angels split a doubleheader with the Oakland Athletics at Anaheim Stadium in the Los Angeles suburb of Anaheim, California. The Angels took the 1st game, 7-3; the A's won the 2nd game, 9-6.
* Another doubleheader was played at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians in the opener, 3-2; the Tribe took the nightcap, 5-4 in 10 innings.
* It must have rained all over the country the day before, because a 5th doubleheader was played, at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The expansion Kansas City Royals swept the White Sox, winning the 1st game 8-6, then taking the 2nd 3-2 in 11.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the expansion Seattle Pilots (soon to become the Milwaukee Brewers), 4-0 at Sick's Stadium in Seattle.
In his memoir of the 1969 season, Ball Four, Pilots pitcher Jim Bouton wrote:
If you want to know what aspect of the moon landing was discussed most, in the bullpen it was the sex life of the astronauts. We thought it a terrible arrangement that they should go three weeks or more without any sex life. (Pitcher John) Gelnar said that if those scientists were really on the ball they would have provided three germ-free broads for the astronauts.
* The Atlanta Braves pounded the expansion San Diego Padres, 10-0 at what was then known as Atlanta Stadium (later Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium). Hank Aaron got 2 hits, but neither was a home run. The Braves did get a homer from a future Hall-of-Famer, Orlando Cepeda.
* And in the game where Perry hit his 1st big-league homer, the Giants were playing their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. The Giants won, 7-3.
* The Atlanta Braves pounded the expansion San Diego Padres, 10-0 at what was then known as Atlanta Stadium (later Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium). Hank Aaron got 2 hits, but neither was a home run. The Braves did get a homer from a future Hall-of-Famer, Orlando Cepeda.
* And in the game where Perry hit his 1st big-league homer, the Giants were playing their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. The Giants won, 7-3.