Frank Borman (born 1928) is a retired United States Air Force colonel, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, and businessman, and the oldest living former NASA astronaut. In 1968, he was the commander of Apollo 8, the first crewed mission to fly around the Moon, for which he was awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. A graduate of West Point, he served as an air force fighter pilot and flight instructor, and an assistant professor at West Point. He was one of five students in the first class at the Aerospace Research Pilot School, and was selected with the second group of NASA astronauts in 1962. He set a fourteen-day spaceflight endurance record as commander of Gemini 7, and served on the review board for the Apollo 1 fire. He became a senior vice president at Eastern Air Lines in 1970, and later its chief executive officer and chairman of the board, leading the company through its four most profitable years before resigning in 1986. He currently owns a ranch in Montana.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Borman

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1846:

The Sultanate of Brunei ceded the island of Labuan to the British Empire as a crown colony. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_Colony_of_Labuan

1955:

According to legend, the NORAD Tracks Santa program began after children began calling the Continental Air Defense Command Center to inquire about Santa Claus's whereabouts due to a misprinted phone number in an advertisement (pictured). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NORAD_Tracks_Santa

1979:

The Soviet government deployed troops in Afghanistan, starting the Soviet–Afghan War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet%E2%80%93Afghan_War

2008:

The Lord's Resistance Army, a Ugandan rebel group, began attacks on several villages in the north of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing hundreds and committing numerous atrocities. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Christmas_massacres

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

party spirit: 1. A feeling or sense of celebration or enjoyment. 2. (politics) The feeling of common purpose and togetherness experienced or shown by members or supporters of a group, especially a political party, sometimes accompanied by unreasonable animosity towards members or supporters of other groups. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/party_spirit

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

As far as I'm concerned we are all God. That's the difference. If you really think another guy is God he doesn't lock you up … Funny about that.   --Ram Dass https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ram_Dass