As early as 13,000 years ago BC, human beings lived and multiplied in the Ohio Canyon, and in the long years that followed, it gradually became an important distribution area for Indian tribes in North America. The name "Ohi-yo" comes from the Iroquois language, which means "great river" or "huge stream". The big river here refers to the famous Ohio River.
The State of Ohio is a state in the midwest of the United States. Geographically, the state is adjacent to Pennsylvania in the east, Michigan in the northwest, Ontario in Canada in the north through Lake Erie in the Great Lakes, and Indiana, West Virginia and Kentucky in the west, southwest and south. With its unique geographical location, especially near the Great Lakes, Ohio has become a very important transportation and trade hub in North America. A large number of freight and business traffic need to pass through its developed and perfect expressway system. Ohio currently has the tenth largest highway network in the United States, and the population and manufacturing capacity within a day’s drive reach 50% and 70% of the United States. Relying on the 502-kilometer waterway boundary brought by Lake Erie, Ohio has established many excellent ports in the north. Among the 50 states in the United States, Ohio ranks 34th in area, 7th in population and top 10 in population density. The state capital and largest city is Columbia. Interestingly, Ohio is rich in a kind of "Buckeye Tree", which bears fruit quite similar to chestnuts, hence the nickname "Buckeye State".
Ohio has been gradually incorporated into the global economic system since the 18th century. European colonists started fur business there, especially France established a control system for fur trade in Ohio. Until 1754, there was a large-scale war between Britain and France, which was called the French-Indian War in North America and the Seven Years’ War in continental Europe. Finally, with the signing of the Paris Treaty between Britain and France, France ceded Ohio and some northwest colonies to Britain. But not long after, a series of rebel movements broke out in Ohio, endangering the rule of British colonists. With the victory of the North American War of Independence, Britain surrendered all control of Ohio.
According to the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, the United States established the Northwest Territory, in which slavery was prohibited. According to the Northwest Regulations, as long as all areas in the territory reach the standard of 60,000 people, they can be established as states. Although by December 1801, the population of Ohio was only 45,000, according to the population growth in this area, the U.S. Congress believed that Ohio would soon meet the standards for statehood, so Ohio could start the statehood process. On February 19th, 1803, Thomas Jefferson, then President of the United States, signed the bill of Congress, ratified the border and constitution of Ohio, making it the 17th state of the United States. However, it is worth noting that the US Congress did not adopt a formal resolution to recognize this fact at that time. This oversight was not discovered until 1953, when Ohio coincided with the 150th anniversary of joining the Union. George H. Bender, a congressman from Ohio, submitted a bill to Congress, asking Congress to identify the date of the establishment of Ohio retroactively. On August 7 of that year, President Eisenhower signed a congressional resolution, which officially recognized March 1, 1803 as the establishment day of Ohio, because this day was the day when the first Ohio Parliament opened.
During the American Civil War, Ohio played an important role in the war because of its geographical location and large population. The state’s waterway and land transportation became the logistics supply line of the Northern Union. In addition, compared with other States, Ohio had the highest proportion of people participating in the war. According to an American historian’s estimation, about 35,000 Ohio soldiers were killed in the battlefield, and more than 30,000 others were seriously injured. By the end of the war, all three top federal generals-Ulysses Grant, William Sherman and Philip Sheridan-were from Ohio.
In addition to its outstanding contribution in the Civil War, Ohio also plays an extremely important role in American politics. It ranks with Virginia as the state that has produced the most American presidents so far, so it is known as the "hometown of presidents". Seven presidents, from President ulysses Grant to President Warren Harding, were born in Ohio. Coincidentally, they all came from the Republican Party. President william henry harrison spent most of his life in Ohio and was buried here after his death. In addition, Ohio is not only the cradle of the birth of the president, but also one of the most important swing states in recent decades. Now any politician who tries to enter the White House will regard Ohio as a battleground. Statistics show that since 1964, all the candidates who won Ohio have been elected president, and since the end of the American Civil War, Ohio has voted for the final winner 33 times in 37 general elections.
In addition to cultivating many outstanding politicians, Ohio has also written a book on human aerospace. On the quarter coin in Ohio, the images of the plane used by the Wright brothers for the first flight in human history and an astronaut are on the left and right respectively. The background of the pattern is the geographical outline of Ohio. On the left side of the coin is also engraved a sentence: "Birthplace of aviation pioneers". Interestingly, the design of this coin has attracted a lot of controversy. First, North Carolina, where the Wright brothers conducted flight tests, naturally regarded itself as the starting point of human aviation, which made the design of Ohio inevitably similar to that of North Carolina. Secondly, according to the relevant laws of the United States, people who are still alive can’t be used as the design material of the image on the coin, and John Glenn and Neil Armstrong, the first two famous astronauts in Ohio, even attended the issuing ceremony of the Ohio quarter. Although the astronaut image on the coin does not depict which astronaut in detail, the coin design is still suspected of violating the legal provisions.
In any case, these controversies can’t conceal Ohio’s outstanding contribution in cultivating its own aerospace heroes, especially the legendary chapter written by Green and Armstrong in the human aerospace industry. John green was born in Cambridge, Ohio in 1921. After graduating from college, Green served in the United States Marine Corps, participated in the Second World War and the Korean War, and later became a test pilot in the Navy. In 1957, Green set an intercontinental flight speed record by flying a fighter plane model F8U. It took him only 3 hours and 23 minutes to fly from LA to new york. Two years later, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) selected Green as one of the seven astronauts in the Mercury project, which made him destined to become a household name in American aerospace history.
In the history of human space flight, the Soviet Union and the United States once launched a soul-stirring competition in the 1950s and 1960s. Soviet astronaut yuri gagarin became the first man to go into space. The first astronaut to orbit the earth also came from the Soviet Union. This honor belongs to Germain Dimov, who achieved this great achievement on August 6th, 1961. It was not until the spring and summer of 1961 that American astronauts Alan Shepard and Virgil Grissom achieved sub-earth orbit flight and became the first American astronauts to go into space. For Green, his goal is to be the first American to orbit the earth. On February 20th, 1962, he took the project mercury Friendship 7 spacecraft to orbit the earth for three times, with the maximum height of 162 miles above the ground and the circling speed of 17,500 miles per hour. This is a very important achievement for Americans who are eager to catch up in this epic space race.
But few people know the hardships behind Green’s achievement. First of all, a fault in the automatic control system of the space plane made the plane deviate from the course, and Green had to turn to manual control to keep the plane at a relatively suitable height. Secondly, a sensor failure caused the system to remind Green that the space shuttle should be protected from overheating. Finally, the cushion used for landing failed to open completely. In a word, at the end of the five-hour flight and finally landed in the Pacific Ocean, Green felt extremely lucky that he could complete the task. In recognition of his feat, more than four million people in new york lined the streets to welcome Green and held a ribbon parade for him. With the reputation of being an astronaut, Green served as a senator in the United States Senate for 25 consecutive years. Until 1998, at the age of 77, he returned to space on the "Discovery" spacecraft, thus becoming the oldest human to fly in space and writing his name into the history of human development again.
Green’s achievements greatly boosted the morale of the whole United States. In his State of the Union address to Congress, then President John F. Kennedy promised to send American astronauts to the moon and return safely within ten years. This bold idea is undoubtedly ambitious. President Kennedy also said a famous motto to NASA officials and scientists: "We chose to go to the moon and achieve other great things in this era, not because of how easy they are, but because of how difficult they are."
Neil armstrong, born in Wapakoneta, Ohio in 1930, was finally chosen for the historic mission of landing on the moon. Armstrong graduated from Purdue University, then served as a naval pilot from 1949 to 1952, and participated in 78 battles in the Korean War. After the war, Amsterdam became a member of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, the predecessor of NASA, and served as a research and test pilot. In 1962, Armstrong became an astronaut, and four years later, he became the flight commander of Gemini 8. In this mission, Armstrong successfully completed the task of docking two aircrafts in the space station, which laid a solid foundation for his later participation in the Apollo Mission.
In the history of human exploration of space, there are not only shining moments, but also regrettable and sad moments. Success and failure are always intertwined, and for those astronauts who have just entered the aerospace industry with recent success, unknown risks are always with them. If they are not careful, they will not only "make a difference by a mile", but even die for it. On January 27th, 1967, in an experiment of an aircraft simulating landing on the moon on the earth’s surface, three astronauts of Apollo 1, Gus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee, died unfortunately because of a fire caused by oxygen leakage in the cabin. In the aircraft cabin, the pressure difference caused by the fire made the door firmly closed, and the three astronauts had no chance to escape. This accident was deeply imprinted on Armstrong’s mind.
On July 16th, 1969, Armstrong and two other astronauts, Edwin Aldrin and Michael Collins, took off from Cape Canaveral and officially started Apollo 11′ s lunar exploration journey. After three days’ flight, the Eagle module piloted by Armstrong and aldrin is ready to land in the "Sea of Tranquility" on the surface of the moon. When Eagle landed, a series of alarms sounded, reminding astronauts and mission control center in Houston, Texas that the computer data of the spacecraft’s basic control system was seriously overloaded. Aldrin ignored these warnings and took manual control to gradually guide the landing. As they approached the surface of the moon, the two astronauts found that the landing site was covered with pebbles. In order to land safely, aldrin can only keep the Eagle at an altitude of about 270 feet until they find a safer landing site. Three minutes later, they finally landed safely on the moon. It was extremely thrilling that they only had less than 7 seconds of fuel left at this time.
Everything that happened afterwards became a classic in human history: Armstrong became the first human to land on the surface of the moon. He and aldrin displayed an American flag on the moon, and also displayed a plaque engraved with words, which read: "The human from the earth landed on the moon for the first time, in July 1969. We come for the peace of all mankind. " Armstrong uttered a famous saying that resounded throughout the twentieth century: "This is a small step for individuals and a big step for all mankind!" After staying on the surface of the moon for 12 hours, Armstrong and aldrin left the moon to join Collins in orbit and return to Earth together. On July 24, 1969, the Apollo 11 return module landed in the Pacific Ocean. Nixon, then president of the United States, praised the three space heroes: "Because of your contribution, today, heaven has become a part of the human world." Looking back on this period of history, everyone will sincerely admire: Ohio is truly the hometown of heroes who gave birth to aerospace pioneers.