May 25th 1961; President John F Kennedy has called for millions of dollars to fund a space programme to get the first man on the Moon by 1970. In a speech to a joint session of Congress broadcast on TV and radio around the United States, he asked for an extra $1,700m (£600m) on the federal budget.

The largest proportion of this would be spent on researching and developing ways of getting an American on the Moon by the end of the decade. "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth," he said.

He said $9,000m (£3,214m) would be needed over the next five years to fund space rockets and other projects need to get a man on the Moon. But the president added "this very urgent request" would not need to be funded by extra taxes provided the economy continued to grow and companies exercised wage and price restraint.