Historical eventDecember 191972

Apollo program

Apollo program: The last crewed lunar flight, Apollo 17, carrying Eugene Cernan, Ronald Evans, and Harrison Schmitt, returns to Earth.

Everything on December 19Original source

In context

When
Tuesday, December 19 197254 years ago
Category
Historical eventA dated happening — a battle, treaty, launch, discovery, disaster or decision — recorded on this calendar day.
Era
20th century · 1970s
Recorded from
Wikipedia “On this day” feed

At a glance

Dates: From 1972.

What happened

The Apollo program, also known as Project Apollo, was the United States human spaceflight program led by NASA, which landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969. Apollo was conceived in 1960 in the Dwight D. Eisenhower presidency during Project Mercury and executed after Project Gemini. Apollo was later dedicated to President John F. Kennedy's national goal, "before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth" in his address to the U.S. Congress on May 25, 1961.

December 19 through the years

Other entries on the same calendar day, in order.

  1. 1972Apollo program
  2. 1998Bill Clinton
  3. 1999Space Shuttle Discovery
  4. 20011998–2002 Argentine great depression
  5. 2005Sucha Beskidzka
  6. 2005Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101
  7. 2012Park Geun-hye
  8. 2013Gaia (spacecraft)
  9. 2013European Space Agency
  10. 20162016 Berlin truck attack
  11. 2016Andrei Karlov

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  • September 15Croatian National ResistanceThree armed members of the Croatian National Resistance hijacked Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 130 in an attempt to force the relea…
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  • September 5PalestiniansThe Palestinian militant group Black September took hostage eleven Israeli athletes and coaches at the Olympic Games in Munich, West Germ…
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Everything we record for 1972 →

Sources

Cite this page

“Apollo program”, What's On This Date, https://whatsonthisdate.com/app/event/apollo-program-1972-december-19, accessed October 28, 2026.

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Questions about this entry

When did Apollo program happen?

December 19 1972 — 54 years ago, on a Tuesday.

Where does this text come from?

Wikipedia “On this day” feed. Summaries are short adaptations that link back to the source, not reprints.

How do I cite this page?

Use the ready-made citation near the sources at the bottom of the page, and follow the source link to cite the underlying record as well.

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