Admiral Byrd
Admiral Richard E. Byrd and three colleagues made the first ever flight over the South Pole in 1929. They traveled 1560 miles in over 18 hours. They had to dump empty gas tanks and emergency supplies to achieve necessary altitude. They mapped new mountain ranges and collected meteorological and geologic information.
Enos in 1961 became the first US chimpanzee to survive orbital flight. He was part of Mercury Atlas 5, which orbited twice around the world before it splashed into the ocean near Puerto Rico. The flight was a precursor to one where John Glenn orbited the earth. Children can read about animals in the space program at: Space Animals.
Dale Cummings, a high school senior, did 14,118 sit-ups in 1965.
Pong was released by Atari in 1972. Pong was the first video game that was financially successful. Initially created as an arcade game, it was later sold to home gamers. The game set off a huge amount of research and development. Today video games account for about $67 billion in revenue a year.