January 31st

On this day - January 31st 1961 - Ham the Chimpanzee was launched into space 

Ham was launched into space as a part of the american space program. He was an 5 year old chimpanzee at the time, but he was born in Cameroon. His name, Ham, was an acronym for Holloman Aerospace Medical Center where the chimpanzee was prepared for his space travel. He was bought by the American Airforce and sent to Holloman in 1959 as one of 40 potential candidates. The chimpanzee selection was reduced to 18 after evaluation, then to 6, before Cameroon-born Ham, then known only as number 65, was selected. For the next two years, Ham was trained to do simple tasks which he was to do also during the launch of the rocket. It is his active participation which sets the launch of Ham from other animals, such as Laika, who had traveled into space up till that point. Ham's launch was very successful and he survived his 16 minute long trip to space and lived out the rest of his years in the National Zoo in Washington DC.