DeathOctober 312023

Ken Mattingly

Ken Mattingly, American astronaut (born 1936)

Everything on October 31Original source

In context

When
Tuesday, October 31 20233 years ago
Category
DeathA notable person who died on this day.
Era
21st century · 2020s
Recorded from
Wikipedia “On this day” feed
Person
Ken Mattingly

At a glance

Born 1936-03-17; died 2023-10-31.

Known as: military officer, astronaut, aircraft pilot, and military flight engineer. Citizenship: United States.

Listed as: human.

Who they were

Thomas Kenneth Mattingly II was an American aviator, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, rear admiral in the United States Navy, and astronaut who orbited the Moon on Apollo 16 and flew on the STS-4 and STS-51-C missions.

Early life

Educated at: Auburn University, U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, and Miami Edison High School.

Early life and education Thomas Kenneth Mattingly II was born on March 17, 1936, in Chicago , Illinois, to Thomas Kenneth Mattingly and Constance Mason Mattingly ( née  Clarke ). [ 1 ] [ 2 ] His father, who had been hired by Eastern Airlines soon after his son's birth, moved the family to Hialeah, Florida . Aviation became part of Mattingly's life from a very young age; he later recalled that his "earliest memories...all had to do with airplanes". [ 3 ]

Path and career

Worked with / for: National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Awards / honours: NASA Distinguished Service Medal, United States Astronaut Hall of Fame, and International Space Hall of Fame.

Military career Mattingly was commissioned in the U.S. Navy as an ensign in 1958 and received his aviator wings in 1960. He was then assigned to Attack Squadron Thirty-five (VA-35) at Naval Air Station Oceana , Virginia, and flew Douglas A-1H Skyraider propeller aircraft aboard the aircraft carrier USS  Saratoga from 1960 to 1963. In July 1963, he was transferred to Heavy Attack Squadron Eleven ( VAH-11 ) at Naval Air Station Sanford , Florida,

Why this date

Ken Mattingly appears on our October 31 calendar for 2023 as a death entry.

October 31 through the years

Other entries on the same calendar day, in order.

  1. 2000Soyuz TM-31
  2. 2000Singapore Airlines Flight 006
  3. 2002Houston
  4. 2003Mahathir Mohamad
  5. 2005Moons of Pluto
  6. 2011World population
  7. 2014VSS Enterprise
  8. 2015Metrojet Flight 9268
  9. 20172017 New York City truck attack
  10. 2020Berlin Brandenburg Airport
  11. 2023Ken Mattingly

Also in 2023

  • September 11Derna, LibyaThe Libyan city of Derna experiences catastrophic floods after Storm Daniel causes two dams to collapse, killing thousands of people.
  • January 3Jurong Bird ParkSingapore's Jurong Bird Park permanently closes.
  • August 14Donald TrumpFormer U.S. president Donald Trump is charged in Georgia along with 18 others in attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election…
  • July 5Ariane 5The last Ariane 5 rocket is launched, carrying the Heinrich Hertz and Syracuse 4B satellites.
  • May 4Mladenovac and Smederevo shootingsNine people are killed and thirteen injured in a spree shooting in Mladenovac and Smederevo, Serbia. It is the second mass shooting in th…
  • October 142023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendumAustralians vote to reject a constitutional amendment that would have established an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
  • January 182023 Brovary helicopter crashA helicopter crash in Ukraine leaves 14 people dead, including the country's Interior Minister, Denys Monastyrsky.
  • June 8Donald TrumpFormer US President Donald Trump is indicted on federal charges of misusing classified information.

Everything we record for 2023 →

Sources

Cite this page

“Ken Mattingly”, What's On This Date, https://whatsonthisdate.com/app/event/ken-mattingly-2023-october-31, accessed October 27, 2026.

Cite the underlying source as well — the source links above go to the record this entry is adapted from.

Questions about this entry

When did Ken Mattingly happen?

October 31 2023 — 3 years ago, on a Tuesday.

Where does this text come from?

Wikipedia “On this day” feed. Summaries are short adaptations that link back to the source, not reprints.

How do I cite this page?

Use the ready-made citation near the sources at the bottom of the page, and follow the source link to cite the underlying record as well.

Text adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0 and from Wikidata (CC0). Images come from Wikimedia Commons; credit and licence are shown with each image. Editorial entries are © What's On This Date. Sources & licensing · How this site works.