Most people know about the Space Race, the famous battle between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to be the first country to reach the moon.
But very few know that at one point, the two countries were going to work together to do it.
Two years after announcing his goal of reaching the moon, President John F. Kennedy gave a speech in front of the United Nations General Assembly.
In it, he suggested that the United States and the USSR work together in order to get to the moon.
Though initially opposed, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev eventually accepted Kennedy’s offer, believing it would lower potential costs and yield a number of technological gains.
However, when Kennedy was assassinated two months later, the plan fell through.
While Khrushchev had developed a bond of trust with Kennedy, he had no personal connection with his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson. Because of this, he struck down the agreement.
Still, the United States trudged forward and, on July 20, 1969, American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to step foot on the moon.
