NASA Astronaut Group 2 was the second group of astronauts selected by
NASA; their names were announced on September 17, 1962. President
Kennedy had announced Project Apollo, with the goal of putting a man on
the Moon by the end of the decade, and more astronauts were required to
fly the two-person Gemini spacecraft and three-person Apollo spacecraft
then under development. The Mercury Seven had been selected for the
simpler task of orbital flight, but the challenges of space rendezvous
and lunar landing led to the selection of candidates with advanced
engineering degrees (for four of the nine) as well as test pilot
experience. The nine were Neil Armstrong, Frank Borman, Pete Conrad, Jim
Lovell, James McDivitt, Elliot See, Tom Stafford, Ed White and John
Young. Six of the nine flew to the Moon (Lovell and Young twice), and
Armstrong, Conrad and Young walked on it as well. Seven of the nine were
awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. (This article is part
of a featured topic: NASA Astronaut Group 2.).
Read more:
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/NASA_Astronaut_Group_2>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1775:
American Revolutionary War: The Continental Army under Richard
Montgomery began the Siege of Fort St. Jean in the British province of
Quebec.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Fort_St._Jean>
1939:
World War II: The Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east,
sixteen days after Nazi Germany's attack on the country from the west.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_invasion_of_Poland>
1958:
Tintin in Tibet, the twentieth volume of The Adventures of
Tintin by the Belgian cartoonist Hergé and which he regarded as his
favourite in the series, began serialisation.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tintin_in_Tibet>
1970:
The Jordanian army entered Amman as part of operations to oust
Palestinian fedayeen from the country in events later known as Black
September (smoke over city pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_September>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
true blue:
1. Steadfastly faithful or loyal; unwavering in loyalty; staunch, true.
2. (specifically)
3. Patriotic.
4. (Britain) Of or pertaining to the (historical) Tory, and now the
Conservative, political party; hence, steadfastly conservative.
5. (Scotland, historical) Of or pertaining to the Scottish Presbyterian
or Whig political party in the 17th century; hence, steadfastly
Presbyterian.
6. Representing the true essence of something; authentic, genuine,
honest.
7. (specifically, Australia, informal) Representing authentic Australian
culture, values, etc.
8. (Britain) Aristocratic by birth. [...]
9. (countable) A faithful partisan or supporter of a cause, person,
political party, etc.
10. (uncountable, historical) A blue dye from Coventry, England, famous
for not washing out.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/true_blue>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Man will not always stay on earth; the pursuit of light and space
will lead him to penetrate the bounds of the atmosphere, timidly at
first, but in the end to conquer the whole of solar space.
--Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Konstantin_Tsiolkovsky>
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