John Glenn John Glenn Colonel John Herschel Glenn Jr. (July 18, 1921 – December 8, 2016) was a United States Marine Corps aviator, engineer, astronaut, businessman, and politician. He was the first American to orbit the Earth, circling it three times in 1962. Following his retirement from NASA, he served from 1974 to 1999 as a Democratic United States Senator from Ohio. Before joining NASA, Glenn was a distinguished fighter pilot in World War II, China and Korea. He shot down three MiG-15s, and was awarded six Distinguished Flying Crosses and eighteen Air Medals. In 1957, he made the first supersonic transcontinental
Senator (sternwheeler) Senator (sternwheeler) Senator was a stern-wheel-driven steamboat which operated on the Willamette River in the state of Oregon from 1863 to 1875. Senator is chiefly remembered for its having been destroyed in a fatal boiler explosion in 1875 while making a landing at the Portland, Oregon waterfront in 1875. "Senator" was built in 1863 at Milwaukie, Oregon by shipbuilder John T. Thomas (1808-1890) for steamboat captain Joseph Kellogg. The steamer made its trial trip on January 22, 1864. The dimensions of the hull were length 123 feet; beam (width) 21 feet; depth of hold 5.0 feet; draft light (unloaded) 22