Neil Armstrong, the astronaut who on July 20, 1969, became the first man to walk on the Moon, is 73 today. He gained his student pilot’s licence at the age of 16, before even passing his driving test, was a navy pilot during the Korean War and went on to join the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics — which became Nasa — as a civilian test pilot. In 1962 Armstrong became the first civilian to enter the astronaut training program. He was command pilot of the Gemini 8 mission, which accomplished the first physical joining of two orbiting spacecraft, and later was commander of the Apollo 11 lunar mission. In 1971-79 he was professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati, and then pursued various busi ness interests until 2002, when he stepped down as chairman of the EDO Corporation, a defence electronics company. He is now retired.
Michael Diamond, director of Birmingham City Museums and Art Gallery, 1980-95, 61; Professor Sir Michael Drury, President of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 1985-88, 77; Lord Hindlip, chairman of Christie’s International, 1996-2002, 63; Alan Howard, actor, 66; Field Marshal Lord Inge, Chief of the Defence Staff, 1994-97, 68; Richard Jewson, chairman of Savills, 59; Sir Michael Kerry, Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor, 1980-84, 80; Christopher Kitching, secretary of the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, 58; Keith Pearson, Headmaster of George Heriot’s School, Edinburgh, 1983-97, 62; Sir Eric Pountain, chairman of Tarmac, 1983-94, 70; the Hon Dame Miriam Rothschild, entomologist, 95; Sir Nicholas Scott, MP for Chelsea, 1974-97, 70; Dame Margaret Seward, president of the General Dental Council, 1994-99, 68; Peter Smith, senior partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers, 1998-2000, 57; Mike Turner, chief executive of BAE Systems, 55.