From the Old West to Walking in Space.

A couple of things happened on this day in the past that are as far apart as anything else I know, spacemen and old west cowboys.  OK, I suppose you are wondering how I figure these two things are related.  It is because, like I said above, they both happened on this day in history, but on different years.

Let us go back to this date in 1936.  That was the day Larry McMurtry was born.  You all know of McMurtry, don't you?  He was the author of many novels, one of the most popular was Lonesome Dove which he wrote while recuperating from open-heart surgery.  He also tried to turn Archer, Texas into a haven for book lovers.  He bought abandoned buildings and filled them thousands of used books for sell.  He wrote about the old west and its characters.  Now, let's move on to the space race.

On this date in 1965 the first American Astronaut took a walk in space.  Major Edward H. White II takes a walk at an altitude of 120 miles above Earth attached to a 25 foot tether.  That is a long way from Lonesome Dove.

Yes, he was the first American to walk in space but he wasn't the first.  The first man to walk in space was Alexey Leonov, a Russian Astronaut.  It took place during the Vostok 11 mission.

 I hope this day in the past was good to you and made some great memories, and that today you will have a great day, you hear?