Person in history
William Anders
William Anders, American astronaut and lunar explorer (born 1933)
Life at a glance
- Died
- 2024 · June 7
Their story
Who they were
William Alison Anders was a United States Air Force major general, electrical engineer, nuclear engineer, NASA astronaut, and businessman. In December 1968, he was a member of the crew of Apollo 8, the first three people to leave low Earth orbit and travel to the Moon. Along with fellow astronauts Frank Borman and Jim Lovell, he circled the Moon ten times, and broadcast live images and commentary back to Earth, including the Christmas Eve Genesis reading. During one of the mission's lunar orbits,
Early life
Early life William Alison Anders was born in British Hong Kong on 17 October 1933, the son of Arthur Ferdinand Anders (1903–2000), a United States Navy lieutenant, and his wife, Muriel A. Anders ( née  Adams ; 1911–1990). The family moved from Hong Kong to Annapolis, Maryland , where his father taught mathematics at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School . After Annapolis, Anders's father received orders to billet in Nanjing , China. After the family moved there, the Second Sino-Japanese War erupted in 1937,
Why this date
William Anders appears on our June 7 calendar for 2024 as a death entry.
Sources
Cite this page
“William Anders”, What's On This Date, https://whatsonthisdate.com/app/people/william-anders, accessed October 28, 2026.
Cite the underlying source as well — the source links above go to the record this entry is adapted from.
Questions about William Anders
When did William Anders die?
June 7 2024.
Who else was born on this day?
The date page lists everyone we hold for that calendar day.
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