Watch The John Glenn Story

On February 20, 1962, John Glenn became the first astronaut to orbit Earth. He piloted the Friendship 7 ship and performed three orbits around our planet. John Herschel Glenn Jr. was born on July 18, 1921 in Cambridge, Ohio. He has been married to Annie Glenn since 1943. He graduated from Muskingum College with an engineering degree. Glenn earned his pilot's license in 1941. In March 1942, John Glenn quit college to join the US Army Air Corps right after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Glenn made his first solo flight at Naval Air Station Olathe, Kansas, where he trained.