Aviation
Happy Birthday Will Rogers
William Penn Adair Rogers was born on November 4, 1879, in Oologah, Cherokee Nation (present-day Oklahoma).
First Flight of the P-51 Mustang
On October 26, 1940, the P-51 Mustang completed its first flight.
First Public Flight by an American Female Aviator
On October 23, 1910, Blanche Scott became the first American female pilot to make a public flight.
First Supersonic Flight
On October 14, 1947, Chuck Yeager became the first person to break the sound barrier.
Happy Birthday, Fast Eddie!
Aviation pioneer Eddie Vernon Rickenbacker was born on October 8, 1890, in Columbus, Ohio.
Birth of Samuel P. Langley
Aviation pioneer Samuel Pierpont Langley was born on August 22, 1834, in Roxbury, Massachusetts.
Happy Birthday Orville Wright
On August 18, 1846, Stephen W. Kearny captured Santa Fe without firing a shot as part of the Kearny Expedition.
First Flight Across the English Channel
On July 25, 1909, Louis Blériot became the first person to fly across the English Channel. Born in Cambrai, France, on July 1, 1872, Blériot was the first of five children. At the age of 10, he attended the Institute of Notre Dame in Cambrai, where he often won prizes for his engineering drawings.
Happy Birthday, Amelia Earhart!
Aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart was born on July 24, 1897, in Atchison. Kansas. Earhart had a taste for adventure from a young age. In 1904, she saw a roller coaster for the first time during a family trip to St. Louis. When she returned home, Earhart and an uncle built a homemade version and attached it to the roof of a shed. Though Amelia ended up bruised and the wooden box she rode in was destroyed, she exclaimed, “It’s just like flying!”