On this day: 1961 - U.S. President John F. Kennedy announces his goal to begin a project to put a "man on the Moon" before the end of the decade

Only moments after John F. Kennedy was sworn in as President of the United States, he delivered a speech that some say changed America.

He wanted to initiate a program that would send Americans to the moon before the Soviets. In a small part of his speech he said: "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth."

On July 20, 1969, the first human stepped foot on the moon thus ending the race between Russia and the United States. Some people have wondered whether there even was a race to get to the moon. Was it just a one-sided campaign by the United States with John F. Kennedy’s administration leading it?

The United States was not the first nation to send a man to space; they were beaten by the Soviet Union when they sent Yuri Gagarin.

Unfortunately Kennedy did not live to see the day that Neil Armstrong and his crew landed on the moon on July 20, 1969. Kennedy’s goal of reaching the moon before the decade was over was successfully achieved.