On This Day: Alan Shepard is 1st American in space On May 5, 1961, astronaut Alan Shepard became the United States' first man in space in a brief sub-orbital flight from Cape Canaveral. By (0) President Nixon honored the Apollo 14 Astronauts with a White House dinner on March 1, 1971, and presented them with NASA's distinguished Service Medal. Astronaut Alan Shepard (L), after receiving his medal, jokes wth the president, causing Nixon to cover his face with laughter. On May 5, 1961, Shepard became the United States' first man in space in a brief sub-orbital flight. File Photo by John Full/UPI | License Photo Monument to Elsie Mitchell and five children killed by Japanese balloon bomb on May 5, 1945. They were the only civilian deaths on continental U.S. soil in World War II. The monument is located in the Mitchell Recreation Area in Oregon. File Photo by Jayedgerton/Wikimedia