Apollo 11 Moon landing
- Date
- 20 July 1969 (mission 16–24 July 1969)
- Category
- Science, technology & invention
- Region
- Global / North America (United States)
- Era
- Contemporary
- Significance
On 20 July 1969 the American Apollo 11 mission achieved the first crewed landing on the Moon. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin descended in the lunar module Eagle to the Sea of Tranquility while Michael Collins orbited in the command module Columbia.
Roughly six hours after touchdown, Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the Moon, declaring 'That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.' The astronauts spent about 21.5 hours on the surface, collected samples, and returned safely, splashing down on 24 July 1969. The landing was watched by an estimated 600 million-plus people worldwide. It fulfilled President Kennedy's 1961 goal of landing a man on the Moon before the decade's end and marked the decisive U.S. achievement in the Space Race against the Soviet Union, which had earlier led with the first satellite (Sputnik, 1957) and first human in space (Gagarin, 1961).
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Empires active in 20 July 1969 (mission 16–24 July 1969)
- Soviet Union1922 CE – 1991 CE
- British Empire1583 CE – 1997 CE
- Spanish Empire1492 CE – 1976 CE
- Portuguese Empire1415 CE – 1999 CE
- Solomonic dynasty1270 CE – 1974 CE
- Dutch Empire1581 CE – 1975 CE
Related science, technology & invention events
- Intel Releases the 4004, the First Commercial Microprocessor1971
- Green Revolution Transforms South Asian Agriculturec. 1966 (peak adoption mid-1960s onward)
- The Apple II Launches the Personal Computer Era1977
- Global eradication of smallpox declared8 May 1980 (last natural case 1977)
- Invention of the integrated circuit1958–1959
- Launch of Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite4 October 1957
Further reading
If you read one book
A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts
The definitive popular history of Apollo.
Get it on Amazon →Also worth reading
- Rocket Men: The Daring Odyssey of Apollo 8 and the Astronauts Who Made Man's First Journey to the Moon — Amazon →
Rocket Men: The Daring Odyssey of Apollo 8 and the Astronauts Who Made Man's First Journey to the Moon
Gripping bestseller on Apollo 8, the mission that first carried humans to the Moon.
Get it on Amazon → - First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong — Amazon →
First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong
The authorized, definitive biography of the first man to walk on the Moon.
Get it on Amazon →
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