On this day in 1961, John F. Kennedy shakes the country into action with a memorable address. “I believe that this nation,” he told Congress, “should commit ...

On this day in 1943, a B-17 Flying Fortress completes its 25th combat mission without losing a member of its crew. Memphis Belle would return to the United S...

On this day in 1942, the Doolittle Raid is launched. Americans would not let the attack on Pearl Harbor go unanswered! Instead, the renowned aviator Lt. Colo...

On this day in 1970, Apollo 13 is launched. Just two days later, the mission would unfortunately be struck by catastrophe. An oxygen tank would explode, leav...

On this day in 1959, NASA announces the names of its first astronauts. The “Mercury Seven” were an elite group, selected only after an arduous application pr...

On this day in 1943, Second Lieutenant Elsie Ott becomes the first woman to receive the U.S. Air Medal. She’d performed an invaluable service just two months...

On this day in 1945, the United States Army Air Forces launches an unprecedented air raid on Tokyo, Japan. To date, it remains the single deadliest bombing r...

On this day in 1949, a B-50 bomber embarks on a historic non-stop trip around the globe. The Cold War was just beginning, and the flight was a huge triumph. ...

On this day in 1984, a NASA astronaut makes the first untethered spacewalk. No one had ever done such a thing before. Usually, a long cable keeps astronauts ...

On this day in 1919, Cornelia Fort is born. She would become one of the most accomplished female pilots to serve during World War II. Did you know that an Am...

On this day in 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia explodes above the skies of Texas. Columbia had once been the first space shuttle to launch into space! Now i...

On this day in 1911, an airplane lands aboard an American warship for the first time. Eugene B. Ely was the pilot who accomplished this feat—and USS Pennsylv...

On this day in 1935, Amelia Earhart departs from Honolulu. The flight that followed would make her the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to the mainland. ...

On this day in 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright make the first sustained, powered flight of a heavier-than-air machine under the complete control of the pilot...

On this day in 1947, the “Spruce Goose” flies for the first and only time. With a wingspan of 320 feet, it was the largest airplane to ever take to the sky—o...

On this day in 1960, a plane carrying the Cal Poly football team crashes in Ohio. The tragedy was the first airline crash involving a United States sports te...

On this day in 1905, Wilbur Wright makes a record-setting airplane flight. His Flyer III would stay in the air for more than 38 minutes. The 24-mile flight w...

On this day in 1892, Bessie Coleman is born to a poor sharecropping family in Atlanta, Texas. She would later become the first black aviator to receive a lic...

On this day in 1929, renowned aviator Jimmy Doolittle completes the first blind flight. Today, airplanes make instrument landings all the time. But did you e...

On this day in 1978, three Americans land a helium gas balloon, Double Eagle II, in France. They’d just become the first to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a bal...