January 27, 1967: The Apollo 1 Fire

Left to right: Ed White, Gus Grissom, Roger Chaffee

January 27, 1967: America experiences its 1st space program tragedy.

Astronauts Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, one of the original "Mercury 7"; Edward H. White II, the 1st American to make a spacewalk; and Roger B. Chaffee, a Navy pilot and engineer who was preparing for his 1st spaceflight, were undergoing a rehearsal for the launch of Apollo 1, meant to launch on February 21. An electrical fire spread through the capsule, killing them.

Grissom was 40 years old, White 36, Chaffee 31.

The tragedy set the U.S. space program back. The 1st manned Apollo flight, Apollo 7, wouldn't get off the ground until October 11, 1968 -- almost 2 years later, and putting President John F. Kennedy's end-of-decade (December 31, 1969) goal in serious jeopardy.

Apollo 8 broke Earth orbit, and orbited the Moon on December 21, 1968. Apollo 9 demonstrated the use of the lunar module on March 7, 1969. Apollo 10 was the "dress rehearsal," as the lunar module got to within 50,000 feet of the Moon's surface on May 22, 1969.

On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 landed on the Moon. Neil Armstrong took his walk, and then Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin took his.

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January 27, 1967 was a Friday. Baseball and football were out of season. And no NHL games were scheduled. But there were 3 games played in the NBA that night:

* The Boston Celtics beat the Detroit Pistons, 112-106 at the Boston Garden.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Cincinnati Royals, 110-107 at the Philadelphia Civic Center. This game featured possibly the two greatest players in the sport's history. For the Royals, Oscar Robertson had 39 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. But, for the Sixers, Wilt Chamberlain had 17 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists. Hal Greer scored 25 for the Sixers.

* And the San Francisco Warriors beat the Baltimore Bullets, 143-116 at the Cow Palace in the San Francisco suburb of Daly City, California. Rick Barry scored 39 for the Warriors.