1793: Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard in Philadelphia makes the first manned free balloon ascent in America in a hydrogen balloon.

1839: South African Thomas Henderson first measures the distance to a star (Alpha Centauri) other than the Sun.

1923: The first flight of a practical gyroplane or rotocraft is made by Juan de la Cierva’s C-3 Autogiro, which is flown by Spenser Gomes in Madrid, Spain.

1941: The first flight of the Avro Lancaster.

1943: First flight of the Lockheed Constellation prototype NX67900.

1955: The Vickers Valiant enters operational service with No. 138 Squadron RAF.

1958: In his state-of-the-Union message, President Eisenhower reported: "In recognition of the need for single control in some of our most advanced development projects, the Secretary of Defense has already decided to concentrate into one organization all antimissile and satellite technology undertaken within the Department of Defense."

1962: First flight of the Hawker Siddeley Trident.

1963: First flight of the Yakovlev Yak-36.

1975: Golden West Airlines Flight 261, a De Havilland Twin Otter DHC-6 (registered N6383) collides in mid-air with a Cessna 150 (N11421) over Whittier, California, killing a total of 26 people between the two aircraft. It is suspected that the pilot of the Twin Otter was blinded by the late, low sun.

1986: the UK Defense Secretary, Michael Heseltine, resigns amidst a political furor over the future of Westland Helicopters. Two weeks later, Leon Brittan, the Trade and Industry Secretary, will also resign.

1990: 64th U.S. manned space mission STS 32 (Columbia 10) launches into orbit.

1997: Comair Flight 3272 crashes 18 miles away from its destination of Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. The Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia (registered N265CA) experienced ice on the wings, which sent the aircraft into an uncontrolled dive, killing all 29 on-board.

2007: An AerianTur-M Antonov An-26 (ER-26068) operating into Balad Air Base in Iraq crashes a mile and a half short of the runway, with one survivor among the 35 people aboard. Though visibility was poor and it was already their second landing attempt, some eyewitnesses report seeing the aircraft being shot down by a missile.

2011: Iran Air Flight 277, crashes while performing a go-around at Urmia Airport killing 77 of the 106 people aboard, and injuring 26 people. A total of 28 people survived. The aircraft involved in the accident was a Boeing 727-286Adv.

2015: Cyprus Airways closes down after 68 years of operations. Closure due to the EU ruling that state support would have to be paid back. The Board of Directors elected to liquidate the company. They had 6 A320 aircraft.