Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Apollo program began in early 1960 when NASA manager Abe Silverstein named the spacecraft after the Greek god. The final mission concluded on the 7th of December 1972 with Apollo 17 landing in the Taurus-Littrow region.
President John F. Kennedy proposed the ambitious goal of landing a man on the Moon before the decade ended on the 25th of May 1961. This decision followed Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becoming the first person to fly in space on the 12th of April 1961.
Lunar Orbit Rendezvous emerged as the winning configuration despite being the last method initially considered by most engineers. John Houbolt at Langley Research Center campaigned relentlessly for this approach throughout 1960 and 1961 while Wernher von Braun announced support from Marshall Space Flight Center on the 7th of June 1962.
An electrical fire erupted inside the cabin filled with 100% oxygen under high pressure during the plugs-out test on Launch Complex 34. Gus Grissom Ed White and Roger Chaffee were asphyxiated before the quick-release outward opening door could be opened.
The Apollo program cost $25 billion originally and employed 400,000 people at its peak. Adjusted for inflation using improved cost analysis methods the total reached approximately $257 billion.