Neil Armstrong

Neil Armstrong was born August 5, 1930. He was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio. He was born on his grandparent’s farm. Before he was 13 he had moved 16 times because of his dad’s job. When he was 13 he moved back to Wapakoneta, Ohio.

Neil’s mother’s name was Viola and his father’s name was Stephen. Neil has two siblings, Dean and June. Neil was the oldest of the children. As a child Neil was calm, serious and determined. He rode in The Tin Goose plane with his dad when he was six years old. Neil was fascinated with flying.

Neil got his pilot’s license on his 16th birthday. When he was 17, he went to Purdue University for two years on a Navy scholarship. He studied aeronautic engineering. Then he went into the Navy for three years and fought in the Korean War. He flew fighter planes in the war. Neil graduated from Purdue in 1955.

Neil got married to Janet Shearon in 1955. They had three children named Eric, Karen and Mark. Karen died three years after she was born. In 1994 Neil and Janet got divorced and he married Carol Held Knight.

He had two jobs - at NASA Neil Armstrong was the commander of Gemini 8 and he was the first man on the moon in 1969. He quit NASA in 1970. He started teaching at The University of Cincinnati in 1971. He had two hobbies – farming and flying planes.

To get into NASA Neil had to meet all of the qualifications:
• He was less than 35.
• He was less than 6 feet tall.
• He was a man.
They did not let women in NASA Intel 1978

Neil Armstrong is famous for being the first person to walk on the moon. He said “that’s one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind”. Four hundred fifty million people heard him say that.

In history these things were happening: World War II ended, the I Have a Dream speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Vietnam War.

The things that he did after retiring were farming, and teaching at the University of Cincinnati.