In June 1967, Lawrence successfully completed the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School (Class 66B) at Edwards AFB, California. The same month, he was selected by the USAF as an astronaut in the Air Force's Manned Orbital Laboratory (MOL) program, thus becoming the country's first black astronaut.
Lawrence and other MOL astronauts laughed when asked at the announcement "Will you have to sit in the back seat of the capsule?" When asked if his selection was historic for race relations in the United States, Lawrence answered "No, I don't think so. It's another one of those things that we look forward to in civil rights—normal progression." He said that he had faced problems like other black people, but, "Perhaps I have been more fortunate than the others in the opportunities." Donald H. Peterson, chosen for MOL with Lawrence, said, "I can't speak for all the people in Mississippi," but that he was not reluctant to work with a black man.
At age 32, Lawrence was killed in a plane crash at Edwards AFB on December 8, 1967. He was flying backseat in an F-104 as the instructor pilot for flight test trainee Major Harvey Royer, who was learning the steep-descent glide technique. Royer made such an approach but flared too late.
The airplane struck the ground hard, its main gear failed, it caught fire, and rolled. The canopy shattered and the plane bounced and skidded on the runway for 2,000 feet (610 m). Major Royer ejected upward and survived, with major injuries. The back seat, which delays a moment to avoid hitting the front seat, ejected sideways, killing Lawrence instantly. He was still strapped to his ejector seat; his parachute failed to open and was dragged 75 feet (23 m) from the wreck.
Had Lawrence lived, he likely would have been among the MOL astronauts who became NASA Astronaut Group 7 after MOL's cancellation, all of whom flew on the Space Shuttle.
During his brief career, Lawrence earned the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Outstanding Unit Citation. On December 8, 1997, his name was inscribed on the Space Mirror Memorial at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
A sidewalk plaque honoring Lawrence, part of the Bronzeville Walk of Fame, can be found in his home town of Chicago, near the Victory Memorial on the median of Martin Luther King Drive near 35th Street.
The 13th Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft, which launched on February 15, 2020, was named the S.S. Robert H. Lawrence in his honor.
The artist Tavares Strachan dedicated his satellite sculpture ENOCH, launched in 2018, to Lawrence. In 2020, NASA included Lawrence in a group of 27 pioneering African-American, Hispanic, and Native American astronauts to commemorate by naming asteroids after them. The asteroid, Robertlawrence 92892, is located in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
In February of 2025, Lawrence's alma mater, Bradley University, installed an art installation commemorating him.
19-year-old Brian Cohee of Grand Junction, Colorado, became infamous after his mother discovered a severed human head and hands in his bedroom in 2021. The grisly discovery was linked to the murder of 69-year-old Warren Barnes, a homeless man who had been living in the area. The incident shocked the community and led to Cohee's arrest and subsequent conviction for first-degree murder.
Barnes, known as the "Reading Man" in the area because he often read books aloud in public spaces, was reportedly murdered by Cohee in a violent attack. The exact circumstances of his death remain unclear, but it is believed that Cohee killed Barnes and then severed his head and hands.
The remains were concealed in Cohee's bedroom, where his mother found them after noticing a foul odor emanating from the room.
Authorities were alerted, and Cohee was arrested shortly after the discovery. Investigations revealed that the motive behind the murder was linked to an attempted robbery. Cohee reportedly planned to steal Barnes' belongings, but the situation escalated into violence, culminating in the horrific dismemberment of the victim's body.
In 2021, Cohee was charged with first-degree murder, and after a lengthy trial, he was found guilty. The court handed down a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole (deserved.)
While being focused on Cohee's actions, this case also highlighted the tragic circumstances of Barnes' life. As a homeless man, Barnes had struggled with mental health and poverty, and his death was a well-needed reminder of the vulnerability of homeless people.
Sundas Naqvi publicly claimed that she had been held illegally for 43 hours by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), but the truth quickly came to light…
Authorities verified that in reality she had spent all that time relaxing in a hotel, getting spa treatments, and going to the gym.
The investigation also revealed that her supposed “disappearance” may have been coordinated while a local politician spread the story as true.
In light of this, Sheriff Dale Schmidt filed a one-million-dollar defamation lawsuit, accusing her of fabricating a nationwide hoax that seriously damaged his office’s reputation with the sole aim of gaining public notoriety.
Melina Salazar, a waitress in Texas consistenly showed patience and kindness to an 89 year old World War II Veteran, Walter “Buck” Swords, who was known for being a difficult customer. While others avoided him , she treated him with respect and care. Wheb he suddenly stopped coming to the diner, she later learned that he had passed away and recieve a call from his lawyer. To her surprise, he left her $50,000 and his car in his will, along with a note expressing deep gratitude for her compassion , which had meant more to him than he ever showed.
In August 2018, Richard "Beebo" Russell, a 29-year-old ground service agent at Seattle Airport, using his ground clearance, he got into the cockpit of a Horizon Air Q400 aircraft. Even though he had never operated an aircraft before, he managed to start the plane, taxi it onto the runway, and take off fucking Alaska Airlines Q-400.
For about 75 minutes, he flew around the Puget Sound area while talking calmly with air traffic control. He kept the plane over open water and unpopulated areas, never meaning to harm others. To the dismay of everyone watching, the untrained Russell performed a successful backflip coming only several feet from the water. Richard refused attempts to guide him to a safe landing, he had made up his mind.
The flight ended when the plane crashed on Ketron Island, killing him. No one else was harmed.
My bisnonno (great-grandpa) was an Italian immigrant to the USA. He lived in NY but moved to TX after meeting a girl from there. This photo was taken there, in TX, by the girl. He faced a lot of discrimination at the time etc.
He moved back to Italy where he would get married (not to the American woman) and have kids. And so on…
This photo was actually found by descendants of the girl who took the photo many years later and added to a museum somewhere in TX near where the photo was taken as a preservation of images of TX before tons of architecture taking over etc.
This is me. Not nearly as handsome as my great grandfather but I like to think I inherited some of his looks lol https://ibb.co/Ldck0XSb
Me smiling for those worried about me after seeing the other pic. All is fine https://ibb.co/fzQgRGkJ
Anais Bordier, a student living in London, discovered Samantha Futerman on YouTube and was struck by their identical appearance. Curious, she researched further and found that both shared the same birthday and were born in Busan, South Korea. She also learned that Samantha had been adopted, just like her.
Anais contacted Samantha through social media, and the two quickly formed a strong connection. They began communicating regularly through platforms like Skype and Facebook, sharing details about their lives and similarities. Both expressed a sense of something missing while growing up, which they later understood.
To confirm their suspicion, they launched a campaign to fund a DNA test and documentary. The results officially confirmed that they were twin sisters who had been separated at birth, turning their discovery into a remarkable real-life reunion story.
Source: https://graziadaily.co.uk/life/real-life/dna-proves-separated-twins-found-youtube-siblings/