Aviation

Aviation pioneer Charles Augustus Lindbergh was born on February 4, 1902, in Detroit, Michigan. He was the first person to fly solo non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean and helped to promote and expand aviation and airmail.

The first US Airmail coil stamp was issued on January 15, 1948, in Washington, DC. Only a few more coil stamps would be issued over the next 30 years, but the DC-4 SkyMaster would appear on more than a dozen postal items.

William Thomas Piper was born on January 8, 1881, in Knapp Creek, New York. He developed the popular and inexpensive Piper Cub and became known as the “Henry Ford of Aviation.”

On November 22, 1935, the China Clipper made its first airmail voyage across the Pacific Ocean. The first-ever transpacific airmail journey, it carried over 110,000 pieces of mail.

Richard Evelyn Byrd was born on October 25, 1888, in Winchester, Virginia. Byrd led three Antarctic expeditions and was the US Navy’s youngest admiral at the time.

On October 14, 1947, Chuck Yeager became the first person to break the sound barrier. He reached a speed of 700 miles per hour and accelerated past Mach 1 – the speed of sound.

Eddie Vernon Rickenbacker was born on October 8, 1890, in Columbus, Ohio. He was America’s leading ace during World War I, with 26 enemy planes shot down.

Claire Lee Chennault was born on September 6, 1890, in Commerce, Texas. He formed and led the Flying Tigers during World War II.

Aviator and inventor Orville Wright was born on August 19, 1871, in Dayton, Ohio. He and his brother would go on to become aviation pioneers.