December 08, 2016 01:59 PM UTC

John Glenn Dies at Age 95

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• by: Colorado Pols

From CNN:

John Glenn, a former US senator and the first American to orbit the Earth, died Thursday, according to Ohio State University. He was 95.

Wednesday, it was announced that Glenn had been hospitalized “more than a week ago,” according to Ohio State University spokesman Hank Wilson. He was at The James Cancer Hospital, which is located at Ohio State University. His illness was not disclosed.

Glenn had heart valve replacement surgery in 2014.

John Herschel Glenn Jr. made history in 1962 when he completed a three-orbit flight in a cramped space capsule dubbed Friendship 7. He later served for nearly a quarter-century as a US senator. In 1998, he returned to space at age 77, becoming the oldest person to ever do so.