Apollo 11

Launched on 16 July 1969, Apollo 11 carried Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins to the Moon and back in eight days, fulfilling President Kennedy's 1961 challenge with four months to spare. Armstrong's first steps on the lunar surface on 20 July were watched by an estimated 600 million people — a third of the world's population — making it the most-witnessed event in human history and the defining achievement of the Space Race.