40 and 50 Years Ago

So Everyone and their mother is posting this today; I had planned to as well, and I'm not going to change that just because all of my readers have probably seen this in a couple of dozen other places today. It really was all that; whether this is mankind's greatest achievement to date, I don't know. But it's right up there.

But Wowsers! I haven't seen this 50-year anniversary pointed out anywhere before; even though it's a week late, it's worth noting and commemorating:

It was half a century ago, on the night of July 8, 1959, that the first two American soldiers to die in the Vietnam War were slain when guerrillas surrounded and shot up a small mess hall where half a dozen advisers were watching a movie after dinner.

So two very important, long-lasting (if you think about the total arc of the space shots), and highly influential events of my childhood have anniversaries in this 8-day period of July.