The first American to orbit Earth in 1962, war hero, astronaut, and senator John Herschel Glenn, Jr. (1921–2016) was born on this day in Cambridge, Ohio. By age 20, he had already earned his pilot's license and fallen in love with flying.

"I was sold on flying as soon as I had a taste for it," he once said.

His historic Friendship 7 Mercury flight lasted just under five hours—but it changed the world. He circled the Earth three times, watching four beautiful sunsets from orbit. "I don't know what you could say about a day in which you have seen four beautiful sunsets," he reflected.

Turning to politics, Glenn served 24 years in the U.S. Senate. Then, at age 77, he made history again by returning to space aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery, becoming the oldest person to travel in space.

During the nine-day mission, he orbited the Earth 134 times and conducted research on space flight and the aging process. Looking down from space, he said, "To look out at this kind of creation out here and not believe in God is to me impossible. It just strengthens my faith. I wish there were words to describe what it's like."

Devoted to something bigger than himself, from defending freedom in wartime, to expanding humanity’s reach in space, to serving the public with integrity, John Glenn was our true American hero.