Neil Armstrong, Legend, Dead at 82

When people look back at the American Era in history, without question one of the grandest feats of the age will be the landing of men on the moon. Neil Armstrong, the first of those intrepid travelers to step onto lunar soil, has died today at the age of 82.

"Legend" is one of those words that has evolved into a bit of a watered-down cliche in modern times, liberally applied to athletes and people doing foolish things on YouTube, but make no mistake: the first man to set foot on the surface of a celestial body other than the earth is legendary.

In a time when humanity applies its intellectual gifts to developing more technologically advanced ways of cramming advertising down the throats of consumers, or to inventing new ways to lustily suck every last drop of oil from the ground so we can burn it, it is good for us to remember that we used to shoot for the stars.

Godspeed Mr. Armstrong.