A Moment of Greatness

You probably know by now that this weekend we are celebrating the 40th anniversary of flight of Apollo 11 - the mission during which, as far as we know, humans first stepped foot on any piece of real estate traveling through the universe which was not called "Earth."

Apollo 11 took flight toward the moon only over eight years after Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin astonished the world by becoming the first human in space orbiting the Earth for 108 minutes in April, 1961.

Had it not been for the competition with what was then known as the Soviet Union, I doubt America would have had the will, or committed the resources for the Apollo program.

But there was the competition and we did commit the resources and on July 16, 1969 Apollo 11 lifted off (the term "blast off" was banned by NASA) en route the moon.

I remember 1969 because I'm old enough to remember it. I suspect many of you are old enough to remember it, as well.

During this weekend, 40 years ago, I was a Junior Officer Candidate in the Ohio National Guard. A course which, I regret to this day, I did not complete.

One of the reasons was the lunar landing of Apollo 11. You may remember that the actual moment when Neil Armstrong was to open the hatch and step onto the surface of the moon was maddingly delayed.

It got to the point that the officers overseeing us decided we needed our rest and ordered us to bed.

I remember saying that this moment was going to come only once in the history of the planet and tonight was the night and if I had to miss it because they wanted me to go to bed then I quit.

We got to stay up and watch, but my days in the Officer Candidate Program of the Ohio National Guard were numbered from that night onward.

For those of you too young to remember 1969, I might as well be writing about 1637. It's all history. For the rest of us, 1969 was some year.

Here are the major events, month-by-month, of 1969. If 1969 is like1637 for you, you will not understand many of the references, or recognize some of the names. Google wasn't invented yet (that wouldn't happen until 1997). It is now, so you can search for the terms, names, and events which interest you:

In January, Richard Nixon was sworn in as 37th President succeeding Lyndon Johnson.

In February, Yasser Arafat was elected President of the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

In March, Golda Meir became the first female prime minister of Israel.

In April, The Harvard University Administration Building was seized members of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).

In May, John Lennon and Yoko Ono conducted their Bed-In at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec.

In June, the Weatherman seized control of the SDS National Offices in Chicago.

In July, Edward M. Kennedy drove off a bridge on his way home from a party on Chappaquiddick Island. Mary Jo Kopechne, died in the incident.

In August, members of a cult led by Charles Manson murdered Sharon Tate and her friends. Also, the Woodstock Music Festival was held in upstate New York.

In September, the first Automatic Teller Machine in the United States was installed in Rockville Centre, New York.

In October, Wal-Mart incorporated as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

In November, Sesame Street premiered on the National Educational Television (NET) network. Also, The first ARPANET link was established (the precursor of the Internet).

In December, the Boeing 747 jumbo jet made its maiden cross-country flight.

That was some year, but nothing made the world stop in its tracks like the flight of Apollo 11.

We need another cause like the program to put a human on the moon. We need something we can all root for; something which will allow us to rise above ourselves and seek, neither profit nor dominance, but greatness.

For those of you who are too young to remember 1969; it's your turn: Bring us a moment of greatness.

On the Secret Decoder Ring today: A link to the bio of Neil Armstrong; another in the series of Mullfotos of our cat and a Catchy Caption of the Day.