Best of 2012

NEIL ARMSTRONG

Armstrong's own words – "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" – aptly summed up the NASA astronaut's historic Apollo 11 journey to the moon with Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins. On July 20, 1969, more than half a billion people watched as Armstrong became the first human to step foot on the Moon. Despite the enduring attention he received for his space mission, the modest Ohio native preferred to live his life outside the spotlight, taking a teaching post at the University of Cincinnati after his retirement from NASA. Following his Aug. 25 death at age 82 of complications from heart surgery, President Obama said Armstrong "delivered a moment of human achievement that will never be forgotten.