John Glenn

Notable people · Aviation · Space

John Glenn

First American to orbit the Earth (Friendship 7, 1962) and a four-term U.S. senator from Ohio.

Born July 18, 1921, Cambridge
Died December 8, 2016, Columbus (Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center)

Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

Born: July 18, 1921, Cambridge (Guernsey County) source
Died: December 8, 2016, Columbus (Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center) (Franklin County) source
Buried: Arlington National Cemetery (interred 2017-04-06), VA source
Also known as: John Glenn, Bud Glenn
Education: New Concord High School, New Concord, OH, to 1939
: Muskingum College, New Concord, OH, chemistry; pilot license 1941
: US Naval Test Pilot School, Patuxent River, MD, 1954
Known as: Aviation, Space
Organizations: NASA, US Marine Corps

Life story

John Glenn was born in Cambridge, Ohio, in 1921 to John Herschel Glenn Sr., who ran a plumbing business, and Clara Sproat, a teacher. The family moved to nearby New Concord soon after. He graduated from New Concord High School in 1939 and studied chemistry at Muskingum College, where he earned a private pilot license in 1941.

He served in the Navy and Marine Corps from 1941 to 1965. In Korea in July 1953 he shot down three MiG-15s, and in 1957 he made the first supersonic flight across the United States. In April 1959 he was named one of the Mercury Seven astronauts.

On February 20, 1962, he orbited Earth three times in Friendship 7. He resigned from NASA in 1964 and served as a US Senator from Ohio from 1974 to 1999. In October 1998, at 77, he flew again aboard Discovery on STS-95.

He married Annie Castor in 1943; they had two children. He died in Columbus on December 8, 2016, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Ohio ties

Cambridge (1921-1923)
birthplace Guernsey County · source
New Concord (1923-1942)
boyhood home; New Concord schools; father's plumbing business Muskingum County · source
New Concord (Muskingum College) (1939-1942)
student; earned private pilot's licence through the college's Civilian Pilot Training Program in 1941 Muskingum County · source
New Concord (College Drive Presbyterian Church) (1943)
married Anna Margaret 'Annie' Castor of New Concord on April 6, 1943 Muskingum County · source
Ohio (statewide) (1974-1999)
U.S. senator from Ohio source
Columbus (Ohio State University) (1998-2016)
founded the John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy; adjunct professor Franklin County · source

Timeline

1921 Born July 18 in Cambridge, Ohio. source
1923 Family moved to New Concord, where his father opened a plumbing business. source
1939 Entered Muskingum College in New Concord. source
1941 Earned his private pilot's licence (dated June 26, 1941) through Muskingum's Civilian Pilot Training Program. source
1942 Entered the Naval Aviation Cadet Program in March, leaving Muskingum in his junior year. source
1943 Married Annie Castor on April 6 at College Drive Presbyterian Church in New Concord. source
1957 Set a transcontinental supersonic speed record on July 16 (Project Bullet). source
1959 Selected as one of NASA's seven Mercury astronauts. source
1962 On February 20 flew Friendship 7 (Mercury-Atlas 6), three orbits in 4 hours 55 minutes 23 seconds. source
1962 On March 3 Muskingum College named its gymnasium after him. source
1964 Withdrew from the Ohio Democratic Senate primary after a head injury from an accidental fall. source
1970 Lost the Democratic Senate primary to Howard Metzenbaum; Governor John Gilligan named him chair of the Citizens Task Force on Environmental Protection, whose 1971 report contributed to creating the Ohio EPA. source
1974 Defeated Metzenbaum in the primary and won election to the U.S. Senate from Ohio. source
1998 Flew on Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-95), October 29 to November 7, at age 77. source
1999 NASA's Lewis Research Center in Cleveland was renamed the John H. Glenn Research Center on March 1. source
2016 Port Columbus International Airport was renamed John Glenn Columbus International Airport on June 28. source
2016 Died December 8 at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus. source
2017 Cambridge unveiled a marker honoring its native son on November 9. source

What John is known for

First American to orbit Earth, 20 Feb 1962
Oldest person to fly in space at the time, 1998 (STS-95)
US Senator from Ohio 1974-1999
Friendship 7 orbital flight, 1962
STS-95 Discovery, 1998

Stories

Cambridge lost the National Register to New Concord

Glenn was born in Cambridge, Guernsey County, but his family moved about ten miles west to New Concord when he was two. After his death, an effort to list his Cambridge birth home on the National Register of Historic Places failed. The National Park Service judged the New Concord home, where he lived from age two, the 'most suitable' place to honor him. Cambridge answered by unveiling its own historic marker on November 9, 2017, a project of the mayor, the local visitors' bureau and a graduate student researching Glenn. The New Concord house, now the John & Annie Glenn Museum at 72 W. Main Street, carries the National Register listing (reference 100003210).

Source

A boyhood house that kept moving

Glenn's boyhood home in New Concord was later moved and then moved back. Ohio State University's biographical sketch records that the house was moved back to State Route 40 (Main Street) in March 2001, where it became the John and Annie Glenn Historic Site and Exploration Center. It was restored to look as it did while Glenn lived there before enlisting in World War II. Today the Ohio History Connection counts it among its network of historic sites.

Source

The astronaut who helped start the Ohio EPA

Glenn's first two tries for the Senate went badly. In 1964 he had to drop out of the Democratic primary after a head injury from a fall, and in 1970 he lost the primary to Howard Metzenbaum. In between campaigns, Governor John Gilligan appointed him in 1970 to chair the Citizens Task Force on Environmental Protection. The task force's June 1971 report contributed to the creation of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. Glenn beat Metzenbaum in the 1974 primary and went on to serve 24 years, then a record for an Ohio senator.

Source

Inventions and firsts

All Ohio inventions and firsts

First American to orbit Earth (1962)

Honors and things named for them

NASA Distinguished Service Medal, 1962
Congressional Space Medal of Honor, 1978
US Astronaut Hall of Fame, 1990
Presidential Medal of Freedom, 2012
Six Distinguished Flying Crosses and 18 Air Medals

Named for John Glenn

John Glenn Columbus International Airport (renamed from Port Columbus, 2016) (Columbus, Franklin County) source
NASA John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field (Cleveland, Cuyahoga County) source
John Glenn College of Public Affairs, Ohio State University (Columbus, Franklin County) source
John Glenn High School (New Concord, Muskingum County) source
John Glenn Gymnasium, Muskingum College (named 1962) (New Concord, Muskingum County) source
Senator John Glenn Highway (I-480) (Cleveland area, Cuyahoga County) source
Colonel Glenn Highway (near Dayton) source
Former Col. John Glenn Elementary School (Seven Hills, Cuyahoga County) source

Family

father: John Herschel Glenn Sr.
mother: Clara Sproat Glenn
wife: Annie Castor Glenn

Sites to know

Homes, graves, markers, museums and monuments; the numbered ones are on the map.

1 John & Annie Glenn Museum (John Glenn boyhood home)
New Concord, 72 W. Main Street Muskingum County · source
John Glenn birthplace marker (unknown)
Cambridge Guernsey County · source
Grave of John Glenn, Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington source

Places in Ohio to see

The John and Annie Glenn Museum (boyhood home and school) (museum)
72 W Main St, New Concord, Muskingum County ZIP 43762 · New Concord · Muskingum County · official page
Muskingum University (park)
New Concord, Muskingum County ZIP 43762 (approximate) · New Concord · Muskingum County

Ohio places

Where John Glenn was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.

Born: Cambridge, Guernsey County ZIP 43725 · Cambridge · Guernsey County
Lived: New Concord, Muskingum County (The John and Annie Glenn Museum, 72 W Main St) ZIP 43762 · New Concord · Muskingum County
Buried: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington County, VA County

Myths and corrections

Things often said about John Glenn, and what the record shows.

Often said John Glenn was the first American in space.

The record Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth (Friendship 7, February 20, 1962). Alan Shepard made the first American spaceflight, a suborbital one, in 1961; NASA describes Glenn's flight as the first U.S. manned orbital mission. source

Often said Glenn graduated from Muskingum College before joining the military.

The record He left Muskingum in the middle of his junior year after enlisting in 1942. He did not complete the senior-year residence or proficiency exam the college required; Muskingum later credited him with a B.S. and an honorary doctorate. source

Pictures

Free to use with the credit shown. Select a picture for the original and its license.

John Glenn Source: http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/HD/images/Whos_Who/Hi_Res/GlennJH.jpg from http://www.tecom.usmc....
Public domain
John Glenn official portrait.
Public domain
John Glenn official portrait.
Public domain
John Glenn official portrait.
Public domain
Mercury Seven Astronauts. Photo from collection of Claude Patterson and provided by his daughter, Blake Dryden...
Public domain
Astronaut John Glenn at the Mercury Control Center
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John Glenn at the Senate
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Mercury Seven Astronauts. Photo from collection of Claude Patterson and provided by his daughter, Blake Dryden...
Public domain
A U.S. Air Force North American F-86F-30-NA Sabre (s/n 52-4584) in 1953. This plane was flown by U.S. Marine C...
Public domain
This is a photograph of John Glenn Jr. and others discussing the Mercury-Atlas 6 flight.
Public domain
Astronauts Tom Stafford, Alan Shepard and John Glenn celebrate in Mission Control at the conclusion of the Apo...
Public domain
Public domain