On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy declared that the United States should commit itself to putting a man on the moon "before this decade is out." The moon-landing project was designated the Apollo Program. The first step was a series of unmanned Earth-orbit flights. On Oct. 11, 1968, Apollo 7 carried three astronauts into Earth orbit. Apollo 8, with three astronauts, was sent into moon orbit and brought back to Earth. Apollo 9 took the Lunar Module the landing vehicle to an orbit around the moon, but it did not land. The critical mission was Apollo 11. Powered by a Saturn V rocket, the 50-ton spacecraft was sent aloft into a lunar trajectory. Aboard were astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin ("Buzz") Aldrin, Jr., and Michael Collins. On July 20 the Lunar Module landed on the Mare Tranquillitatis, or Sea of Tranquility, and Neil Armstrong, in his own words, made "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Armstrong and Aldrin performed experiments and returned with soil samples. Later Apollo missions performed additional experiments, including tests of the environment and the interior of the moon. Apollo 15 carried with it a Lunar Roving Vehicle, an electric "car" that could be driven across the moon's surface. The last trip to the moon was in December 1972 aboard Apollo 17.

For thousands of years people have been able to perform simple mathematical functions with the help of machines. The abacus, which consists of movable beads strung on wires, has been around since ancient Egyptian times. The slide rule was invented in the 17th century, as was a digital calculating machine that could perform only addition. But the invention of the transistor and its use in integrated circuits made possible much smaller, faster, and more powerful machines. In 1971 Texas Instruments introduced the first electronic calculator. It was portable but not small enough to be a pocket calculator. With the continual miniaturization of solid-state electronic components, later calculators were much smaller. Some, today, are the size of credit cards and can fit inside wallets.

An extremist group called Black September emerged within al-Fatah in late 1971. On Sept. 5, 1972, members of Black September infiltrated the Olympic Village in Munich, Germany. There they killed two Israelis and took nine others hostage, demanding the release of 200 Arabs held in Israeli prisons. The hostages were taken to a nearby airport. In an exchange of gunfire with German police five of the Arabs were killed. All nine remaining hostages were killed when one of the terrorists threw a hand grenade into their helicopter. This event was one of the most notorious acts committed by Arab terrorists in an era of violence against civilians that began in about 1968.

As the fight at the airport was going on, Nomi and her family set glued to the radio while listening to the live broadcast. For a moment it seemed like the hostages were saved, but the momentary jubilation soon turned to despair, as realty surfaced. The entire country was in shock and mourning for a long time.