Neil Armstrong Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who was the first person to walk on the Moon. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor. A graduate of Purdue University, Armstrong studied aeronautical engineering with his college tuition paid for by the U.S. Navy under the Holloway Plan. He became a midshipman in 1949, and a naval aviator the following year. He saw action in the Korean War, flying the Grumman F9F Panther from the aircraft carrier . In September 1951, he was hit by
Perry A. Armstrong Illinois House of Representatives, representing Will and Grundy counties. Armstrong was a war Democrat and always favored the Union, being a friend of both President Lincoln and Senator Stephen A. Douglas. During the war he took on the duty of procuring horses for the army. In 1863 he was admitted to the bar, and formed the law partnership Olin and Armstrong with Benjamin Olin. Olin withdrew from the firm in 1870, and Armstrong ran the firm as sole proprietor from that time forward. In 1872 he was elected to the 28th Illinois General Assembly. In his later life he wrote