50 Years Ago: Beatles Break Up, Apollo 13 Launches Moon Mission

I know this will date me and I don’t care. I vividly remember it was 50 years ago today April 11, 1970 that Apollo 13 launched from Florida on it’s moon mission.

I remember it well because just the day before the Beatles officially announced that they had broken up, making headlines around the world. The break up of the Beatles was big big news. It was even mentioned in the script of the Apollo 13 movie.

As one of the millions of huge Beatle fans I was crushed. But my attention quickly turned to the television news with round-the-clock coverage of the Apollo 13 disaster. If you’ve seen the Apollo 13 movie you have a pretty good idea of what it was like. The producers really worked hard to accurately re-create exactly what happened and how NASA saved those three astronauts from death.

The week of April 11, 1970 was filled with tension and anxiety, but we got through it together as a global community does during times of serious trouble. The Beatles never did reunite, but NASA did send more missions to the moon. Proof that together we can make it through anything.

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