On Nov. 22, 1963, The Irish Press featured a front-page story about U.S. President John F. Kennedy … but not what you are thinking. Published before the assassination in Dallas, the story reported how JFK cited Irish writer Frank O’Connor the day before to promote the U.S. space program.

In his 1961 autobiography, “An Only Child,” O’Connor wrote of how, as a boy, he and his companions would toss their caps over orchard walls, leaving them with no alternative but to scale the barriers, no matter how high or formidable.

In his Nov. 21, 1963, speech in San Antonio, Texas, Kennedy said: “This nation has tossed its cap over the wall of space, and we have no choice but to follow it. Whatever the difficulties, they must be overcome.” Read and listen to the full speech.

The Press story quoted O’Connor as saying it was “a very brilliant use of the quotation.”

A week later, amid ongoing coverage of the assassination, the Press returned to JFK’s literary interests. A story headlined “Kennedy had library of Irish works” mentioned two titles from his personal collection at the White House: “The Great Hunger,” by Cecil Woodham-Smith, and “The Irish Republic” by Dorothy MacArdle.

The JFK Library & Museum in Boston.