Word: apollos
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WHEREVER people could read, watch or hear the news, they followed the epic journey of Apollo 11 with fascination. Most Americans were jubilant, if sometimes at a loss for words. An elderly lady awaiting a flight at Chicago's O'Hare Airport simply stood up and sang America the Beautiful when she learned that the moon landing had succeeded. Said Robert Hutchins, the usually articulate head of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions in Santa Barbara: "It's marvelous. What else can you say?" Author Paul Goodman, a frequent critic of U.S. institutions, wrote...
Around the globe, others shared America's enthusiasm. In Paris, emergency electrical generators were turned on to keep TV tubes glowing through the night. In a crowded bar on Rome's Corso di Francia, one Italian disparaged the Apollo achievement-and was clobbered in a fist-swinging, bottle-throwing brawl. In Japan, Emperor Hirohito canceled a botanical outing in the woods to watch TV. In Germany and in Uruguay, police reported a sharp drop in crime while Eagle was resting on the moon. Said a West Berlin police sergeant: "I wish there were moon landings every night...
Soviet leaders have never played up the race to the moon in their domestic propaganda, and there was no evidence that Russians felt the same chagrin that bothered the U.S. when Sputnik 1 led the way into space. Russian TV provided only limited and delayed coverage of Apollo's flight. But President Nikolai Podgorny wired President Nixon after the splashdown: "Please convey our congratulations and best wishes to the courageous space pilots." Peking, on the other hand, attempted to jam all five of the Voice of America broadcasts in Chinese...
...Yugoslavia's Radio Zagreb pointedly emphasized the contrast between American candor and Soviet secrecy concerning space flights. Czechoslovakia issued special commemorative stamps, and a Hungarian television commentator talked of "amazing tasks" during the moon walk. Poles unveiled a soaring statue at the Cracow sports stadium in honor of Apollo's astronauts. Said Radio Warsaw: "Let them come back happily. Their defeat would be the defeat of all mankind...
Special editions came off presses from Taiwan to Fleet Street like confetti. Records for circulation, promotion, mass staffing, and words written were broken everywhere. At week's end the Miami News delivered to its readers a staggering 16-page, 33,000-word narrative describing the Apollo 11 mission. In New York, the Times devoted 18 pages to moon news. Even with a press run increased by 75,000, the Times literally disappeared from newsstands Monday morning-some copies going for upwards of $1 on the black market. Both the New York Post and Daily News datelined landing-day issues...