1968 certainly experienced some dark times

1968 certainly experienced some dark times.  The Vietnam War was escalating.  Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. had both been assassinated.  Racial tensions were high.  Suddenly, 50 years ago today, there were three humans orbiting the moon for the first time.  Due to the historic nature of this event, combined with the fact that it was Christmas Eve, they were to do a live broadcast from lunar orbit.  Their only direction was to say something appropriate.  They chose to read from the Book of Genesis, ending with: “And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you – all of you on the good Earth.”