1905: In efforts to interest the U.S. government in the use of airplanes for the military, Wilbur Wright speaks to Congressman Robert M. Nevin, who asks him to prepare a letter for submission to the secretary of war that Nevin would deliver and endorse. The army declines the offer.

1909: The first airspeed indicator is patented by Alec Ogilvie. Read more...

1915: A Bristol Scout C takes off from HMS Vindex, marking the first time a wheeled aircraft had taken off from a ship. Read more...

1923: French Lieutenant Thoret makes the first soaring flight of more than 5 hours in a Hanriot HD-14 biplane as he flies with his engine stopped in a slope lift (using hill-side air currents) in Biskra, France. Read more...

1944: Japan launches first Fu-Go bombs, aka fire balloons or balloon bombs. Released from Japan, the balloons were meant to be pushed across the Pacific by the jetstream and then crash into the U.S. mainland and explode. A fascinating idea, but not a very effective weapon: Of the 9,000 balloons launched, only six Americans were killed. 300 of the balloons were ever found in North America, and it is estimated around 600 others likely landed in uninhabited deserts, forests and mountains.

1961: A Finnair airplane crashes near Kvevlax, Finland because of an inebriated pilot. Read more...

1981: Pan Am retires the Boeing 707 from its fleet.

1986: An Iranian C-130 Army transport crashes into a mountain while attempting to land at Zahedan Airport (ZAH) in southeastern Iran, killing all 103 on board.

1994: Baikal Air Flight 130, a Tupolev Tu-154M, crashes at Irkutsk, Siberia shortly after takeoff as the result of a fire in the number 2 engine. All 124 on board are killed, plus one person on the ground. (26 years to the day later, Russia would order the grounding of all Read more...

1999: NASA’s Mars Polar Lander is launched aboard a Boeing Delta II booster from Cape Canaveral. The MPL is scheduled to touch down in the Martian southern polar region in December.

2004: Flash Airlines Flight 604, a 737-300 (reg SU-ZCF) en route to Paris via Cairo, crashes shortly after takeoff from Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, killing 148. American NTSB investigators blame the crash on spatial disorientation by poorly trained pilots, while Egyptian authorities cite mechanical failure. Read more...