February 20, 1962: John Glenn In Orbit

February 20, 1962: Mercury-Atlas 6 is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Aboard the capsule Friendship 7 is Lieutenant Colonel John H. Glenn Jr., U.S. Marine Corps. A 39-year-old native of New Concord, in southeastern Ohio, he becomes the 5th human being in space, the 3rd American; the 3rd human being to orbit the Earth, and the 1st American.

The mission lasts 4 hours, 55 minutes and 23 seconds, and the capsule makes 3 orbits of the Earth. Like all the capsules of Project Mercury, it had the number 7 as part of its name, after the first seven astronauts chosen by America's National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Glenn had been a fighter pilot in the Korean War, a squadron-mate of baseball legend Ted Williams. After the war, he set a speed record flying from coast to coast. Of the "Mercury 7" -- who called him "Mr. Clean the Marine" -- he was the oldest, and the one with the most flying experience.

Because Glenn was the 1st American in orbit, he ended up being celebrated far more than Alan Shepard, whose Mercury-Redstone 3 launch in 1961 made him the 1st American in space, because his capsule, Freedom 7, never got into orbit.

Following his return to Earth, Glenn received a ticker-tape parade in New York, and a welcome to the White House from President John F. Kennedy. He became so useful as an example of American excellence that they didn't let him fly in space again. This might not have been fair, but it became more logical in 1968, when Soviet astronaut (they used the term "cosmonaut") Yuri Gagarin, the 1st person in space and the 1st person to orbit the Earth, was killed in a test flight.

In 1964, he ran for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senator from Ohio, but dropped out when an injury interfered with his ability to campaign. He tried again in 1970, narrowly losing the primary. He tried again in 1974, and won, the 1st of 4 terms he would win. His opponents liked to say, "John, what on Earth have you done for us?" The voters of Ohio seemed to think he was doing enough. He ran for the Democratic nomination for President in 1984, but didn't get far. This was in spite of his being perhaps the lead character of the 1983 film The Right Stuff, in which he was played by Ed Harris.

On October 25, 1998, as he was retiring from the Senate, he finally returned to space, aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery. He was 77, at the time the oldest person ever to travel in space. He died in 2016, the last survivor of the Mercury 7.

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February 20, 1962 was a Tuesday. Baseball and football were out of season. And no NHL games were scheduled for the day. But there were 4 games played in the NBA that night, 2 of them in a doubleheader at the old Madison Square Garden:

* In the opener at The Garden, The Philadelphia Warriors beat the Chicago Packers, 112-107. Yes, you read that right: "Chicago Packers." They were an expansion team. For 1962-63, bowing to the fact that no Chicago Bear fan wanted to root for a team called the Packers, they became the Chicago Zephyrs. But they flopped, and for 1963-64, they moved, becoming the Baltimore Bullets, the Washington Bullets in 1973 and the Washington Wizards in 1997.

The Warriors would move to San Francisco after this season. In this game, Wilt Chamberlain scored 48 points.

* In the nightcap, the New York Knicks beat the Detroit Pistons, 110-103.

* The Cincinnati Royals beat the St. Louis Hawks, 129-109 at the Cincinnati Gardens. The Hawks moved to Atlanta in 1968. The Royals moved in 1972 to become the Kansas City Kings, and in 1985 for Sacramento.

* And the Boston Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 115-96 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.