Which individual was the first American to orbit the Earth?

The first American to orbit the Earth was John Glenn, who accomplished this feat on February 20, 1962, as part of the Mercury-Atlas 6 mission, which was named Friendship 7. This historic flight lasted approximately 4 hours and 55 minutes, during which Glenn completed three orbits around the Earth. His successful mission marked a significant milestone in the space race and demonstrated the United States' capabilities in human spaceflight during a critical period in the Cold War.

Yuri Gagarin, although an important figure in space history, was the first human to orbit the Earth. William Hale and Sergei Korolev, while notable in their own rights within the aerospace community, did not play a direct role in being the first Americans to achieve orbital flight. Their contributions lie in different aspects of space exploration and engineering. This context reinforces the distinction of John Glenn's achievement as a pivotal moment in NASA's history and human space exploration overall.