Born: John Herschel Glenn Jr. 

D.O.B.: July 18th, 1921 

Died: December 8th 2016 

Cause of Death: Health Complications 

Spouse: Annie Glenn 

Cool Quote: “To sit back and let fate play its hand out and never influence it is not the way man was meant to operate.” 

John Glenn was an astronaut, senator, and American hero. Glenn was famous for orbiting the earth three times in his lifetime, beginning with the craft Friendship 7. The start of his professional career commenced with his military deployment in World War II, where he completed 59 missions. After World War II, Glenn's military career didn't end, with the start of the Korean War, where he ran a total of 90 missions. After his time in the military ended, he joined the Naval Air Test Center and beat the world record for the amount of time needed to get from New York to Los Angeles in 1957. Eventually, he was noticed by our space program and selected to embark into the vast unknown. Along with six other people, he launched into space in the Friendship 7, to bolster America's efforts in its "space race" against Russia. The craft rounded the Earth three times before landing, making it a successful mission for Glenn and his crew. After this, President Kennedy rained down accolades onto the astronauts, making them national heroes. 

Even though John Glenn had already served his country in his contributions to the "space race", he still decided to serve his country more. After a good career in the private sector working with the company Royal Crown Cola, he decided to run for Congress. He failed twice before making it in as a Democratic Senator from Ohio in 1974. At the age of 77, he went into space yet again, becoming the oldest man to go into space in 1998. After his expedition, he retired from the senate, serving for around 26 total years in the government. During his time as Senator, he pushed for more funding to education and science.  

John Glenn's service to this country is undeniable, as we take a look through his life and career. While he may not have been very outwardly successful, he worked from the sidelines tirelessly until his death. 

Source: http://www.biography.com/peopl...