President John F Kennedy's speech at Rice University in 1961, which laid down the gauntlet for a landing on the Moon, seemed a daunting challenge at the time, especially when the US had only sent Alan Shepard on a 20-minute sub-orbital flight.

BBC: Neil Armstrong: 'Diffident' emissary of mankind

And related, in Providence: How much did the city benefit from a congressman with the golden last name of Kennedy, and would its Brown University have gone prime time without John F.

FORBES: Do People Make Places?