Neil Armstrong
1930–2012 · American (Ohio) · Cold War / Space Age
Known for: First person to walk on the Moon—'That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind'
Armstrong was a Korean War combat pilot, test pilot, and the coolest head in NASA. He was chosen to command Apollo 11 partly for his unflappable temperament—during the lunar landing, he manually piloted the Eagle past a boulder-strewn crater with only 25 seconds of fuel remaining.
He was intensely private, rarely gave interviews, and refused to monetize his fame. He was an engineering professor at the University of Cincinnati for years. He preferred the anonymity of a small Ohio town to the spotlight—the most famous person on Earth who wanted nothing to do with fame.
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