Alfred Worden (1932–2020) was an American test pilot and astronaut who in 1971 was the command module pilot of the Apollo 15 lunar mission. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1955, and was commissioned in the Air Force. He proved adept at flying fighter planes, becoming a test pilot prior to his selection as an astronaut in 1966. Worden served on the support and backup crews for Apollo 9 and 12 before selection for Apollo 15. He spent three days alone in lunar orbit, becoming the person who was the furthest from any other human being, a record he still holds, and also performed the first deep-space extravehicular activity, or spacewalk. His astronaut career was effectively ended by a scandal over carrying postal covers to the Moon, and he retired from NASA in 1975. The author of three books, he subsequently entered the private sector, unsuccessfully ran for Congress, undertook charitable works and promoted a renewed space program.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Worden
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1846:
French shepherd children Mélanie Calvat and Maximin Giraud reported a Marian apparition, now known as Our Lady of La Salette, near La Salette-Fallavaux. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_La_Salette
1940:
World War II: Polish resistance leader Witold Pilecki allowed himself to be captured by German forces and sent to Auschwitz to gather intelligence. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witold_Pilecki
1970:
Greek student Kostas Georgakis set himself on fire in Genoa, Italy, as a protest against the military junta of Georgios Papadopoulos. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kostas_Georgakis
1995:
The manifesto of Ted Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber, was published in The Washington Post almost three months after it was submitted. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Kaczynski
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
yo-ho-ho: A cry associated with pirates and seafaring, originally a repetitive chant intended to synchronize workers performing some collective physical labour, such as hauling on a rope. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/yo-ho-ho
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Who may tell What strange conceits upon the earth were sown And gender'd by the fond garrulity Of your aereal music? Scatter'd notes, Half heard, half fancied by the erring sense Of man, on which they fell like downy seeds Sown by autumnal winds, grew up, and teem'd With plenteous madness. --Hartley Coleridge https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hartley_Coleridge
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