Video: The First Person Ever to Play Golf on the Moon is From New Hampshire

Did you know the first American to ever go to space was born in Derry, New Hampshire, and attended Pinkerton Academy?

Some of you just read that and laughed. Because you thought, "DUH, everyone knows that."

Nope. That's certainly not true. There are so many pieces of history in our state and worldwide, that people either don't know, forget, or somehow never learn, and that is okay!

But back to the first American to ever go to space: Alan Shepard Jr. On May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard was launched into space from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The space capsule, Freedom 7, only had enough room for one person. Talk about nerve-racking.

According to a KCRA article,

The flight, which did not orbit Earth, lasted about 15 minutes and reached a height of 116 miles into the atmosphere before splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean.

This historic event was of course captured on film. Below is a short video that includes take-off, landing, what people around the country saw, and what Shepard saw:

Perhaps more importantly (yes, I am being sarcastic), did you know that Alan Shepard was the first person ever to play golf on the moon?

Why would you care about that? Well, this is super cool if you golf, like space, like New England, or just like new facts to win at trivia nights.

After the New Hampshire native's first and famous trip, he was unable to return to space for nearly a decade due to an ear problem.

After that was cleared, on January 21, 1971, he was selected to be a part of the Apollo 14 mission to the moon, according to a KCRA article. They took off on January 31, 1971, and spent more than 33 hours on the moon.

During the mission, "Shepard became the fifth person to walk on the moon, and the first to play golf on its surface," according to KCRA.

HOW THE HECK DID HE DO THAT? Well, he had packed a specially designed golf club just for this purpose, DUH.

The best part about Shepard's golf round was that it was all captured on video. The quality is out of this world, literally:

He probably did not need to yell FORE, but I do wonder where that golf ball is today.