By: History.com Editors

1965

First American astronaut walks in space

History.com Editors

This Day In History: First American astronaut walks in space, Edward H. White

NASA

Published: February 09, 2010

Last Updated: January 24, 2025

On June 3, 1965, 120 miles above the Earth, Major Edward H. White II opens the hatch of the Gemini 4 and steps out of the capsule, becoming the first American astronaut to walk in space. Attached to the craft by a 25-foot tether and controlling his movements with a hand-held oxygen jet-propulsion gun, White remained outside the capsule for just over 20 minutes. As a space walker, White had been preceded by Soviet cosmonaut Aleksei A. Leonov, who on March 18, 1965, was the first man ever to walk in space.

NASA's Early Years

In 1958, NASA was founded and quickly took up the goal of sending a man into Earth's orbit -- and safely returning him home. Seven men were chosen for Project Mercury, embarking on years of training to prepare for a journey no one had made before.

Implemented at the height of the space race, NASA’s Gemini program was the least famous of the three U.S.-manned space programs conducted during the 1960s. However, as an extension of Project Mercury, which put the first American in space in 1961, Gemini laid the groundwork for the more dramatic Apollo lunar missions, which began in 1968.

The Gemini space flights were the first to involve multiple crews, and the extended duration of the missions provided valuable information about the biological effects of longer-term space travel. When the Gemini program ended in 1966, U.S. astronauts had also perfected rendezvous and docking maneuvers with other orbiting vehicles, a skill that would be essential during the three-stage Apollo moon missions.

On June 3, 1965 Edward H. White II became the first American to step outside his spacecraft and let go, setting himself adrift in the zero gravity of space.

On June 3, 1965 Edward H. White II became the first American to step outside his spacecraft and let go.

NASA

On June 3, 1965 Edward H. White II became the first American to step outside his spacecraft and let go, setting himself adrift in the zero gravity of space.

On June 3, 1965 Edward H. White II became the first American to step outside his spacecraft and let go.

NASA

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on June 3rd

1754

Lieutenant Colonel George Washington builds Fort Necessity

On June 3, 1754, during the Seven Years’ War, a 22-year-old lieutenant colonel in the Virginia militia named George Washington begins construction of a makeshift Fort Necessity. The fort was built to defend his forces from French soldiers enraged by the murder of Ensign Joseph Coulon de Jumonville while in Washington’s custody. One month later, […]

1800

President John Adams arrives in Washington, D.C., as the new capital city is being built

On June 3, 1800, John Adams, the second president of the United States, arrives in Washington, D.C., where he briefly takes up residence in Georgetown and is fêted in advance of being the first American president to move to the burgeoning new capital city. When he arrives, its streets have yet to be paved and […]

1864

Union disaster at Cold Harbor

Union General Ulysses S. Grant makes what he later recognizes to be his greatest mistake by ordering a frontal assault on entrenched Confederates at Cold Harbor, Virginia. The result was some 7,000 Union casualties in less than an hour of fighting. Grant’s Army of the Potomac and Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia had […]

1915

Austro-German troops recapture Przemysl fortress from Russians

On June 3, 1915, Austro-Hungarian and German troops recapture Przemysl fortress (now in Poland), from Russian forces. The citadel guarding the northeastern-most point of the Austro-Hungarian Empire had been held by Russian soldiers for several months. Used as the Austrian army headquarters during the first months of World War I, Przemysl was ordered to hold […]

1916

U.S. President Woodrow Wilson signs National Defense Act

On June 3, 1916, United States President Woodrow Wilson signs into law the National Defense Act, which expanded the size and scope of the National Guard—the network of states’ militias that had been developing steadily since colonial times—and guaranteed its status as the nation’s permanent reserve force. Though Theodore Roosevelt and other Republicans were pushing […]

This Day In History: U.S. President Woodrow Wilson signs National Defense Act, June 3, 1916

1936

Western author Larry McMurtry is born

Larry McMurtry, one of the most well-known modern writers in the western genre, is born in Wichita Falls, Texas on June 3, 1936. McMurtry’s family had been involved in Texas ranching for three generations, and he was exposed to ranching life from an early age. McMurtry, however, ultimately proved more interested in books than in […]

1937

Duke of Windsor weds American socialite Wallis Simpson

In France, the Duke of Windsor—formerly King Edward VIII of Great Britain and Northern Ireland—marries Wallis Warfield Simpson, a divorced American socialite for whom he abdicated the British throne in December 1936. Edward, born in 1896, was the eldest son of King George V, who became the British sovereign in 1910. He served as a staff officer […]

The Duke of Windsor with Wallis Simpson at the Chateau de Conde, France, on their wedding day. (Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

1940

Germans bomb Paris, killing hundreds of civilians

On June 3, 1940, the German air force bombs Paris, killing 254 people, most of them civilians. Determined to wreck France’s economy and military, reduce its population, and in short, cripple its morale as well as its ability to rally support for other occupied nations, the Germans bombed the French capital without regard to the […]

1943

Zoot Suit Riots begin in Los Angeles

On June 3, 1943, a group of U.S. sailors marches through downtown Los Angeles, carrying clubs and other makeshift weapons and attacking anyone wearing a “zoot suit”—the baggy wool pants, oversized coats and porkpie hats favored by many young men of color at the time. Over the next week, the so-called Zoot Suit Riots spread […]

Zoot Suit Riots

1956

Rock ‘n’ roll is banned in Santa Cruz, California

On June 3, 1956, Santa Cruz, California captured national attention when city authorities announced a total ban on rock ‘n’ roll at public gatherings. Officials called the music “detrimental to both the health and morals of our youth and community.”  Santa Cruz, a favorite early haunt of author Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters, became […]

This Day In History: Rock 'n' roll is banned in Santa Cruz, California, June 3, 1956

1989

Crackdown at Tiananmen begins

With protests for democratic reforms entering their seventh week, the Chinese government authorizes its soldiers and tanks to reclaim Beijing’s Tiananmen Square at all costs. By nightfall on June 4, Chinese troops had forcibly cleared the square, killing hundreds and arresting thousands of demonstrators and suspected dissidents On April 15, the death of Hu Yaobang, […]

2010

Joran van der Sloot arrested for murder in South America

On June 3, 2010, Joran van der Sloot, a longtime suspect in the unsolved 2005 disappearance of American teen Natalee Holloway in Aruba, is arrested in Chile in connection with the slaying of 21-year-old Stephany Flores, in Lima, Peru. Flores was murdered on May 30, 2010, exactly five years to the day after Holloway went […]

2017

Terrorists attack London Bridge

During one horrific 8-minute period on June 3, 2017, eight people were killed as a band of terrorists drove a van through a pedestrian walkway on the London Bridge. The men then exited, armed with pink steak knives, and proceeded to slash and stab people in a nearby market. The attack was the third to […]

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Citation Information

Article title
First American astronaut walks in space
Website Name
History
Date Accessed
March 25, 2025
Publisher
A&E Television Networks
Last Updated
January 24, 2025
Original Published Date
February 09, 2010

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