1962 – Astronaut John H. Glenn Jr. was honored by President John F. Kennedy at Hangar S in Cape Canaveral on this date after Glenn’s successful orbit of the earth three days prior. Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth aboard the spaceship Friendship 7, and was only the fifth human in space. Glen would later be elected to the U.S. Senate in 1974 and would serve in that position until his retirement in 1999. He would also fly on a Space Shuttle mission (STS-95) in 1998, becoming the oldest person (77) to fly into space.