John Glenn, first American in orbit, born 1921

John Glenn, born July 18, 1921 in Cambridge, Ohio, is the first American to orbit Earth.  In February 1962, he orbited Earth three times in Friendship 7, lasting almost 5 hours.  After his historic flight, JFK said Glenn was too valuable to the nation as an iconic figure that he would not risk putting Glenn back in space.

After leaving NASA, Glenn ran for the US Senate and became Ohio's senator from 1974 to 1999. 

Glenn did return to space in 1998 aboard the space shuttle Discovery (STS-95) October-November 1998, making him the oldest person in space.

Glenn passed away in December 2016.