June 10

Born in 1716 in Tanum, Sweden, Ekeberg studied medicine at Uppsala University. He joined the Swedish East India Company and commanded multiple voyages to the coast of Brazil. Ekeberg charted the Brazilian coastline and collected specimens of plants and animals. His travel accounts provided valuable information on geography, climate, and indigenous cultures. He returned to Sweden to practice medicine and published detailed descriptions of his expeditions. He died in 1784, leaving a dual legacy as a pioneering explorer and respected physician.

Dr. Frederick Cook was an American physician and adventurer born in New York. He participated in Arctic expeditions alongside Robert Peary in the late 1890s. In 1908 he announced that he had reached the North Pole a year before Peary's claim. His expedition also produced the first recorded ascent of Denali (Mount McKinley) in Alaska. Cook's polar achievement sparked controversy and debate over the validity of his evidence. Despite disputes, he documented his journeys in writings that captivated the public until his death in 1940.

James McDivitt was born in 1929 in Chicago, Illinois, and pursued a career as a fighter pilot in the United States Air Force. Selected by NASA in 1962, he commanded the Gemini 4 mission in 1965, which included the second-ever spacewalk by astronaut Ed White. In 1969, McDivitt led Apollo 9, the first crewed flight to test the lunar module in Earth orbit, a critical step toward the Moon landing. After retiring from flight operations, he served as NASA's Manager of Gemini and Apollo mission operations, shaping the trajectory of the Apollo program. McDivitt also held executive roles in the aerospace industry before retiring as a brigadier general. He passed away in 2022, remembered for his leadership and contributions to human space exploration.