Apollo 8 - First to the Moon!  

Todyay (21st December) is the launch of Apollo 8, the first manned spacecraft to reach the Moon. The crew were Frank Borman, James A Lovell Jr and Willam A Anders. Apollo 8's mission was originally meant to be the first manned test flight of both the Lunar Module and the Command and Service Module (CSM) in Earth orbit, and would have included practicing rendezvous and docking and EVA procedures. As it turned out, the LM wasn't ready to fly yet, and the CIA had received intelligence that the soviets may be about to launch a manned Zond spacecraft around the Moon and back (neither side being ready for a landing at that point). So a decision was made to pre-empt this by launching a CSM to the Moon and back. Not only did this effectively win the Moon Race for the Americans, but it also provided the opportunity for a photo reconnaissance of future Apollo landing sites.
This was the first manned launch of the Saturn V - a previous unmanned test launch of the vehicle was less than 100% successful, so the mission wasn't without risks. But in those days people seemed to have been a bit more willing to take risks if they thought is was worthwhile, and this mission did end up being a complete success. The Apollo 8 crew became the first men to see the far side of the Moon with their own eyes, and the mission was a vital stepping stone towards the lunar landings that started the following year. Brave men, to spend several days locked up in a tiny capsule, surrounded by vacuum, and to travel further than anyone else had ever gone before, with no guarantee of a safe return.