1st African-American flew to space after 124 spaceflights
Retired NASA astronaut Guion Bluford was the first African-American to fly into space, achieving the feat in 1983 aboard the Challenger spacecraft. The US Airforce pilot was selected for the 125th human spaceflight following which he flew three missions logging over 688 hours in space. Bluford, who turns 75 today, is currently the President of a US-based engineering consulting organisation.