[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 18]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 26004]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        COMMEMORATION OF ROBERT H. GODDARD'S ``ANNIVERSARY DAY''

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                         HON. JAMES P. McGOVERN

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 19, 1999

  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in commemoration of Robert H. 
Goddard's self-proclaimed ``Anniversary Day.'' Robert Hutchings 
Goddard, referred to as the ``Father of Modern Rocketry,'' was born in 
Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1882, graduated from South High School in 
1904, and attended Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1908.
  In 1911, Goddard received his doctorate at Clark University and 
subsequently became a professor of physics there. Through 
experimentation, Goddard discovered that liquid fuel was more efficient 
than solid fuel. Soon thereafter, in 1926 he successfully launched the 
world's first liquid fuel rocket in Auburn, Massachusetts, a feat 
comparable in history to that of the Wright brothers' flight at Kitty 
Hawk. Goddard is also credited with learning how to control rocket 
flight, and equipping rockets with parachutes so that they could land 
safely.
  October 19, 1999 marks the 100th anniversary of an event that gave 
purpose to Goddard's life. On October 19, 1899, at the age of 17, he 
climbed a cherry tree in his Worcester backyard and experienced a 
vision of space travel that would consume him for the rest of his life. 
This resolve was noted in his diary each year thereafter as 
``Anniversary Day,'' in memory of the day that focused his purpose in 
life.
  Mr. Goddard, himself, was quoted as saying ``the dream of yesterday 
is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow.'' I urge all my 
colleagues to join me in recognizing this ideal, and Robert H. Goddard 
as the ``Father of Modern Rocketry.''

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