The first human to orbit the planet was Yuri Gagarin, on the 12th of April 1961.
Glenn was the first American to do so, in February '62. (Shephard went to space in May '61, but didn't orbit.)
On the bright side, Glenn went on to became the oldest astronaut at age 77, on the Space Shuttle, so there's still hope for us.
(, Tue 30 Apr 2019, 13:32, Reply)