I. The first known speculative Freemason to be initiated is either Sir Robert Moray in 1641 or Elias Ashmole in 1646, depending on who you are talking to and where it took place. Arguably it was Sir Robert Moray who was the first to be initiated on English soil, when considering purely speculative Freemasonry, on Scottish soil there were quite a few before either of them.
II. Richard E. Byrd and his pilot Bernt Balchen, both brothers, dropped Masonic flags over the north and south poles. Brother Balchen also tossed his Shrine Fez on the South Pole.
III. Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, was a brother of Clear Lake Lodge No1417 in Texas. He was also the lunar module pilot on
Apollo 11, the first lunar landing in history. When he stepped on the moon, he had with him a special dispensation from his Grand Master to claim the moon as being the territorial jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Texas.
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