Flight

On October 23, 1910, Blanche Scott became the first American female pilot to make a public flight.

On October 14, 1947, Chuck Yeager became the first person to break the sound barrier.

Aviation pioneer Eddie Vernon Rickenbacker was born on October 8, 1890, in Columbus, Ohio.

On August 31, 1957, the US Post Office issued an 8¢ stamp honoring Ramon Magsaysay, the first stamp in a new Champion of Liberty Series.

Aviation pioneer Samuel Pierpont Langley was born on August 22, 1834, in Roxbury, Massachusetts.

On August 18, 1846, Stephen W. Kearny captured Santa Fe without firing a shot as part of the Kearny Expedition.

On July 27, 1909, Orville Wright flew a plane a record one hour and 12 minutes. Born in 1867 and 1871, Wilbur and Orville Wright had been interested in science and technology from a young age.  After receiving a flying toy as a gift from their father in 1878, they became fascinated with flight.  They sought to develop a heavier-than-air flying machine that could carry a man.

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.

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!”