This Week in National Press Club History: Neil Armstong examines 'the Engineering Century'

Feb. 22, 2000: Astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, outlined in a National Press Club Luncheon the top engineering achievements of the 20th century. Describing himself modestly as “a nerdy engineer,” who carried a slide rule with him on his July 1969 momentous journey, Armstrong analyzed the “the Engineered Century” and topping his list were electronics, water purification, the airplane, the automobile, and rural electrification. “Truly it has been a magical century,” he concluded. To view video of the luncheon, click here. Armstrong died on Aug. 25, 2012, at the age of 82.

This Week In National Press Club History is brought to you by the History & Heritage Committee, which preserves and revitalizes the Club’s distinguished history through lobby displays, events, panel discussions and a continuing Oral History project.

For more information about the Committee, or to join it, contact past president and committee chair, Gilbert Klein at [email protected].

Compiled by Elizabeth Smith Brownstein, member of the History & Heritage Committee, with resources from the Club’s archives and Gilbert Klein’s history of the Club’s first hundred years, Reliable Sources: 100 Years at the National Press Club.