Transcript
Aaron Manke (0:00)
This is an iHeart podcast.
Capital One Bank Guy (0:05)
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Aaron Manke (0:38)
Welcome to Erin Menke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and mild. Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all of these amazing tales are right there on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities John was sweating in his stiff uniform under the hot studio lights. It was October 4th of 1957 and all that morning he'd been focusing on music. This wasn't unusual for John. As a test pilot, his mind was usually on Popular Mechanics, not popular songs. Today, however, he was turning in his pilot's license for a chance to compete on a game show called Name that Tune. As the cameras started rolling and the orchestra played, the host of the show introduced John And Eddie, the 10 year old boy who'd be his partner on the show that night. Noting that John was a military pilot, the host went slightly off script to ask him a question that the entire audience was probably what did he think of the Russian satellite that was circling the globe at that very moment? Beyond this being John's debut in game show stardom, October 4th of 1957 was the day that Russia launched Sputnik, the first man made satellite into orbit. John smiled and responded that this marked the beginning of a new age of space travel, one that perhaps his co contestant Eddie would participate in someday. John didn't know it yet, but it was he not Eddie, was about to shoot for the stars. Growing up in Ohio, John had a fascination with planes from a young age. After taking his first flight with his father at 8 years old, he spent hours making model planes and imagining flying them through the clouds. As he grew older, imagination turned into action. John obtained a private pilot's license in College in 1941, clocking hundreds of hours in the air by the time the United States entered World War II in December of 41, John knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to be a fighter pilot for the US Military. He served in the Pacific as a marine pilot, flying 57 missions against Japanese planes by the time the Korean War rolled around in the early 1950s, John was known as a fearless flier who didn't hesitate to hunt down the communist forces. Faster, better equipped MiG 15 jets. While he was patrolling the skies over Korea, he had his first brush with fame in the form of his wingman, Boston Red Sox hall of Fame hitter Ted Williams. But in a few short years, it would be John and not Ted making the headlines. After the war, John began working as a test pilot for the Navy. And as the years went on, John found himself behind a desk more often than he was in the cockpit. Knowing if he didn't act soon that he would be relegated to paperwork forever, he came up with a scheme. One that would show off the Navy's latest technology and cement his status as a flying star. On July 16th of 1957, John John made the first ever supersonic transcontinental flight. He flew from California to New York in just 3 hours and 23 seconds. A full 22 minutes less than the standing record. The moment he exited the cockpit in New York, he entered a new world where he was a celebrity. He was profiled in the New York Times and invited to compete on the game show Name that Tune. On that game show, he won $25,000, which he used for his children's college fund. But the money wasn't the biggest impact from the game show. John's taping of Name that Tune just so happened to coincide with the launching of Sputnik, Russia's first satellite. And while Sputnik was a huge human achievement, it also spiked anxiety across the globe. The US Was terrified that if Russia controlled space, it would control the world. And so the race was on to master the final frontier. John shared these fears. He had spent his whole career fighting America's enemies in the sky. And if the fight was going even higher, then he wanted to join it. So once the United States announced that they were recruiting astronauts for its space program, he was one of the first to apply and the first to make the cut. On February 20th of 1962, John's dreams finally came true when the spaceship Friendship 7 launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. John navigated several malfunctions and technical failures, forcing him to take over manual operation of the spacecraft. Despite that, just five hours later, they splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean. And just like that, John Glenn became the first American astronaut to safely orbit our planet. An achievement that wasn't just incredible, it was literally out of this world.