There are few news events that stick with you throughout your life. One for me certainly is the destruction of the space shuttle Challenger shortly after liftoff on January 28, 1986. The shuttle’s crew of seven were killed, including Ronald McNair, who had graduated magna cum laude in engineering physics from North Carolina A&T and had gone on to earn a PhD from MIT. For this anniversary of the Challenger disaster, the Greensboro News & Record provides a list of “30 things you should know about astronaut Ronald McNair.”

Bonus remembrance: President Ronald Reagan’s address to the nation on the loss of Challenger has lost none of its power and is deservedly considered among the best oratory of the 20th century.