On This Day: The First American Orbited the Earth

On this day in history, February 20th, 1962, February 20, 1962, Astronaut John Glenn flew the Friendship 7 mission and became the first American to orbit the Earth and the fifth person in space. Glenn resigned from NASA on January 16, 1964, and the next day announced plans to run for a U.S. Senate seat from Ohio. Injury from a bathtub concussion caused him to withdraw from the race in March. He retired from the Marine Corps on January 1, 1965. A member of the Democratic Party, he finally won election to the Senate in 1974 and served through January 3, 1999. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama, in 2012.