About William R. Pogue
William Reid Pogue (January 23, 1930 – March 3, 2014) was an American astronaut and pilot who served in the United States Air Force (USAF) as a fighter pilot and test pilot, and reached the rank of colonel. He was also a teacher, public speaker and author. Born and educated in Oklahoma, Pogue graduated from Oklahoma Baptist University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education and enlisted in the USAF in 1951 and served for 24 years. He flew combat during the Korean War and with the USAF Thunderbirds, then served as a flight instructor. Following graduation from Oklahoma State University with a Master of Science degree in 1960, he served as mathematics professor at the United States Air Force Academy, and after training at the Empire Test Pilots' School, he was a test pilot whose service included a two-years exchange with the Royal Air Force (RAF). During his service as a flight instructor, Pogue was accepted as a trainee astronaut for NASA in 1966. His NASA career included one orbital mission as pilot of Skylab 4, whose crew conducted dozens of in-orbit research experiments and set a duration record of 84 days—the longest crewed flight—that was unbroken in NASA for over 20 years. The mission also had a dispute with ground control over schedule management that news media named The Skylab Mutiny. Pogue retired from the USAF and NASA a few months after he returned from Skylab, after which he taught and wrote about aviation and aeronautics in the U.S. and abroad. Pogue died in 2014, aged 84. Pogue was attracted to flying from an early age; he first flew an airplane while in high school. It held the record for the longest spaceflight until 1978, when the crew of Soviet ship Salyut 6 spent 140 days at the space station.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.