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35th U.S. President John F. Kennedy declared in a 1961 landmark speech, the United States’ intention of putting a man on the moon, asserting it would a tremendous milestone for mankind. What was, however, Kennedy’s real view on the matter?

Answer: He essentially did not care about space travel, being only keen to undermine the Soviet Union. He said to the director of NASA, James Webb, that he really believed ‘that we shouldn’t be spending this kind of money because I’m not interested in space’.

Source: Debating the Kennedy Presidency by James N. Giglio and Stephen G. Rab

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1908 – King Carlos I of Portugal and his heir, Prince Luis Filipe are assassinated by Republican sympathizers in Lisbon.

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A short, sharp hit of history in video format. Acclaimed Irish playwright and novelist Oscar Wilde was the toast of London society in the 1890s until things came decidedly unstuck through an association with a young British aristocrat, Lord Alfred Douglas, known as ‘Bosie’.

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I was born in Huanggang, China, in 1908.
After training as a soldier, I became a leader in the Chinese Communist Party
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HistoryWow’s Highlighted Historical Quotation

“In Russia a man is a called reactionary if he objects to having his property stolen and his wife and children murdered.”

Winston Churchill (1874-1965), British statesman

Source: The Wicket Wit of Winston Churchill by Dominique Enright

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HistoryWow’s Featured Historical Figure of Note

Marcus Porcius Cato (234-149BCE)

Roman statesman, soldier and writer of virtue, simplicity and wisdom. He condemned the luxury of his time and was nicknamed “the censor”. He became Consul in 195BCE, took part in the defeat of Hannibal at Zama, held command in Sardinia and Spain, and in 191 BCE assisted the Greeks in overthrowing Antiochus III at Thermopolyae.

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