Facts About Neil Armstrong

"When I Think of Neil Armstrong, I think of someone who for our country was dedicated enough to dare greatly." - John Glenn (Astronaut) - the first American to orbit the earth

The memory is vivid in my mind even today. My father, trying to tune in to international news broadcasts like the BBC and VOA on our old radio set, suddenly caught the static-filled live commentary of the Apollo 11 space mission to the moon. Both of us sat glued to it, listening with rapt attention. Since then, much has changed, and we have learned a lot more about space, the moon, the solar system, the existence of other planets revolving around other suns, however, nothing has ever matched the magic of the first man setting foot on the moon. The man who achieved this phenomenal feat was Neil Armstrong, an American pilot and astronaut. Armstrong passed away on August 25, 2012, but his famous words uttered on the moon have remained etched in the imagination of people all around the world ever since:

That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.
Sidestepping the historic metaphorical implication of this first lunar radio transmission, there is some debate whether Armstrong actually uttered the 'a' in the 'small step for a man' half of the sentence, since the original radio broadcast didn't have optimum clarity. While Armstrong maintained that the 'a' had been lost in radio transmission, some argued that the sentence was a case of redundancy, since 'man', when used without an 'a', means 'mankind' anyway. Of course, this is just a side issue! Considering that Armstrong had already made history when he spoke the sentence, I think 'mankind' can forgive him for a simple grammatical error- if it indeed happened. Here are some interesting facts about 'a man' who made the giant leap for mankind.

★ Neil Armstrong was born on August 5, 1930, in Wapakoneta, Ohio.

★ He was of Scottish and German descent.

★ He had a Bachelor's Degree in aeronautical engineering from Purdue University and a Master's Degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Southern California. He also had a number of honorary doctorates, awarded to him by several universities.

★ Before he entered the space program, he had piloted jets, helicopters, and gliders for the U.S. Air Force and Navy.

★ It is said that his passion for flying began when he was just two years old when he was taken by his father to the National Air Races, which was held in Cleveland, Ohio. This interest deepened further when, at age six, he experienced his first ride on an airplane in a Ford Tri-Motor, in Warren, Ohio.

★ Neil Armstrong started taking lessons in flying at an airport located to the north of Wapakoneta in an Aeronca Champion airplane. In order to pay for the lessons, he worked at a number of jobs at the airport as well as the town.

He got his flight certificate at the age of 16, even before he could obtain a driver's license!

★ While he was studying for his aeronautical engineering, the Korean War broke out, in which he flew 78 combat missions. He was just 20 years old when he was made a naval aviator. His plane was shot by anti-aircraft fire once, while in a low-height armed reconnaissance flight, but he managed to escape, leaving the wreckage behind. In recognition of his bravery and skill, he won Air Medals for 20 air missions.

★ He was a member of the fraternities Phi Delta Theta and Kappa Kappa Psi.

★ Later, he became a skillful test pilot, flying right to the atmosphere's edge, 207,500 feet, or 63,198 meters, at 4,000 miles per hour, in the famous experimental rocket powered aircraft, X-15.

★ Due to Armstrong's knowledge of engineering, he was always quick to grasp the minute nuances of flight and could understand the characteristic in-flight properties of specific aircraft quicker than most, enhancing his abilities as a pilot.

Despite being an accomplished and reputed pilot, Armstrong later stated that he had never dreamed about walking on the moon.

★ He went on his first space mission on March 16, 1966 as the command pilot of Gemini VIII. He docked the Gemini VIII successfully with an unmanned Agena target craft. Although the docking was smooth enough, while the spacecrafts were together, they started to roll. Armstrong then managed to undock the Gemini, and regained control of the spacecraft by using the retro rockets. However, this resulted in the astronauts having to make an emergency landing into the Pacific Ocean.

★ The defining moment in the Space Race came when Armstrong set foot on Earth's closest celestial neighbor on July 21, 1969. The mission was so fraught with risk that Armstrong himself conceded that the chances of a safe touchdown were only 50-50.

★ Remembering the experience of the historical Apollo 11 flight lifting off, Neil Armstrong said, "It felt like a train on a bad railroad track, shaking in every direction. And it was loud, really loud."
Although Neil Armstrong was among the most well-known people in the world, he always was a private man, happy to stay out of the limelight. For many years after his epochal moment, he avoided the media. However, he finally decided to venture out into the spotlight when he gave his permission for a biography named 'First Man - The Life of Neil Armstrong' to be written by James Hansen.

The legacy of Neil Armstrong extends far beyond one of the most famous quotes in human history and a few footprints on the surface of the moon. He is the epitome of man's admiration and fascination for what lies beyond. His first step on the moon was the fruition of man's innate efforts to satiate his own curiosity, the desire to know, and the will to tackle the unknown, to exceed and to conquer.
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HowThe Internet Has Changed The Television

Did You Know

Television has become such a central part of today's culture that people looking for new homes prioritize where they will put their TV when choosing the next house for their family. While it has received a lot of backlash due to decreasing activity levels among kids who prefer to stay indoors and watch their favorite shows, television is actually a highly valuable asset to today's culture. From news channels to educational programs, many of the shows that air on today's televisions are packed with information that enriches viewers. But people today have a great deal and more control over their television habits than those watching just a decade ago, thanks to the Internet. Below are a few ways in which the Internet has changed how today's culture consumes television entertainment.

Netflix: Television at the Touch of a Button
Netflix has, in terms of the general public's consumption of television shows, changed the game entirely. An online platform that offers instant streaming and mail-based delivery of DVDs, Netflix allows people to watch what they want, when they want. While it started largely as a movie-based platform, the popularity if its television show collections has grown immensely. Today, a great deal of the options on Netflix's instant streaming menu is TV shows. While many of them are new, with the latest season being added just weeks after the finale airs, many are older. Shows like Firefly, which has a strong cult following despite being canceled after just one season, were once rare finds on TV, but are now available to the general population through this Internet-based platform.

Networks Moving to the Internet: The Latest Shows on the World Wide Web
Netflix has been extremely successful in bringing television shows to the World Wide Web. So much so that, to keep up and compete, many networks have opted to air their shows online before they can get to Netflix. For instance, NBC posts new episodes of many of its most popular shows online just after they premiere on air. With fewer commercials and the ability to watch at one's leisure without having to wait for the entire season to be wrapped up, this has become a very popular option for television fans who don't want to wait until their favorite shows are up on Netflix. In fact, this option received enough demand for companies like Hulu and Amazon to complete in this space.

Payment Options: Getting More for Less
One of the primary complaints of television is directed at the price of cable-which can be expensive. With cable prices increasing yearly and the infamously poor customer service provided by many cable companies, consumers are flocking to the Internet for their entertainment. The cost of membership to Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and other such companies is much less than that of cable, and in many cases people find it worthwhile to forgo the traditional television experience for the convenience and freedom of the Internet.

Internet has made TV more Seamless
Watching TV at your convenience is one of the biggest perks of Internet. You are no longer required to watch your favorite sitcom on TV's scheduled time but can watch it at any point of time and anywhere (since you can view them on your phone as well). Not just that, you can pause, rewind, fast-forward, record, and restart any show. Another boon that comes with Internet television is the fact that you can skip the commercials! Who would have thought 20 years before that watching TV sans commercials was possible?

The web has changed the world in many ways, and on a daily basis one of its largest impacts is how today's consumers access TV. With new offerings being continually developed by both television networks and companies like Netflix, the future of Internet-based entertainment is certainly bright.

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BARAK OBAMA Timeline

Barak Obama was the junior United States Senator from Illinois, who held office from January 2005 to November 2008. He was nominated for the position of President in the United States Presidential election of 2008. He was the first African-American to be nominated for this position by a major political party in America, and the first African-American to win.

Timeline of Barack Obama

1961: Barack Obama was born on August 4, 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii. His birth name is Barack Hussein Obama II.

1971: He started staying with his maternal grandparents in Honolulu and attended the Punahou School till high school graduation. From there, he moved to Los Angeles and attended the Occidental College for two years.

1983: He earned a B.A. from Colombia. He served at the Business International Corporation for a year and then worked at the New York Public Interest Research Group. He spent four years in New York City after which he moved to Chicago and served as Director of Developing Communities Project. He worked there till 1988.

1988: In late 1988, Obama joined the Harvard Law School. There he got the opportunity to preside over Law Review, wherein he served as editor-in-chief supervising eighty editors.

1991: Obama obtained Juris Doctor (J.D.) magna cum laude from Harvard.

1992: On October 3, 1992, he married Michelle Robinson, an American lawyer who had worked as his adviser at the Chicago law firm for three months. From April to October 1992, he directed the Illinois' Project Vote and worked towards the registration of 150,000 out of 40,000 unregistered African-Americans in the state. During this very year, Obama began teaching constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School. He served as a lecturer from 1992 to 1996, and as a senior lecturer till 2004.

1995: By mid-1995, Obama came up with the manuscript of his book with the name 'Dreams from My Father'.

1996:: He was elected to the Illinois Senate in 1996. He was reelected once in 1998 and for another time in 2002.

2003: He became the chairman of the Illinois Senate's Health, a Human Services Committee.

2004: In July 2004, Obama delivered the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in Boston. It was during this public address that he talked about changing the economic and social priorities of the government. In March 2004, he won a majority of 70 percent votes and was elected to the Senate.

2005: In January 2005, he became the fifth African-American Senator in the US history. He was the third one to be popularly elected for the post. He was always one of the most powerful senators ranked by Congress. When in power, he worked towards bringing about several reforms to the system.

2007: On February 10, Obama announced that he would be a candidate for President of the United States.

2008: In November this year, he was the President-elect of the United States of America. He won the presidential election which made him the forty-fourth President of the United States.

2009: He assumed office on January 20, 2009. Joe Biden would serve as the Vice President. Obama's work during the initial days of presidency includes, withdrawal of troops from Iraq and revocation of the Mexico City Policy. By signing the re-authorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, he covered 4 million uninsured children under it. In May 2009, Obama nominated two women (Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan) to serve on the Supreme Court. With their appointment as Justices of the Supreme Court, there were three women holding this position, which was happening for the first time in American history. Later that year and in the beginning of 2010, Obama worked towards tackling issues like global warming and sexual violence, and towards bringing reforms to health care.

2010: In the April of 2010, Obama signed the New START, a nuclear arms reduction treaty between the United States and Russia. He signed the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 in December that year, whereby lesbians, bisexuals, and gays could serve openly in the United States Armed Forces.

2011: This year saw the ousting and death of the oppressive Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, and the death of Osama bin Laden, the founder of al-Qaeda and the man behind the September 11 attacks in America. The military intervention in Libya ordered by Obama, led to the death of Gaddafi. The military operation involving a raid launched from Afghanistan on Laden's compound in Pakistan, led to the end of Laden. These were two most significant operations in Obama's presidency and they proved to be landmark events in history.

2012: Obama defeated Mitt Romney to be elected as the United States President for the second time.

2013: His second term of Presidency began on January 20, 2013. He aims at bringing reforms to the economy, health care, and the immigration system in the United States.

Barack Obama has always emphasized on issues like ending the Iraq war, increasing energy independence, and working towards providing universal health care. He has a deep concern for the social, economic, and political reforms of his country and the welfare of his people.
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