This Day in History: 2017-12-01
November 23, 2002 – “First Native American Travels to Space”
John Herrington, a registered member of the Chickasaw Nation, was the first Native American to travel into space as the mission specialist for STS-113, the 16th mission to the International Space Station. During his mission, Herrington performed three spacewalks that totaled 19 hours and 55 minutes. The length of his mission was 13 days, 18 hours and 47 minutes. Herrington was inducted to the Chickasaw Hall of Fame the same year he went into space. William Pogue, a crewman aboard Skylab 4 in 1973-1974, had Choctaw ancestry, but was not an enrolled member of the Choctaw.
1912 - “Jim Thorpe Wins Decathlon and Pentathlon at Olympics” "Jim Thorpe, a member of the Sac and Fox Nations, won the gold medals in the decathlon and pentathlon at the 1912 Olympics. It was the first year that those events were held in the history of the modern Olympics. The accomplishments were just two in a career of great feats that ended in Thorpe being considered one of the most versatile athletes in American history. In addition to his track and field achievements, Thorpe succeeded at football, basketball and baseball."