1919: The 1st municipal airport in the United States opens in Tucson, Arizona and is still in use today.

1953: The 1st man to exceed Mach 2 (twice the speed of sound) is American test pilot Scott Crossfield in a Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket. The world airspeed record is now set at 1,291 mph (2,078 km/h).

1970: In Operation Ivory Coast, the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army assault North Vietnam's Son Tay prison camp to free prisoners-of-war thought to be there, but none are found. Large air raids are conducted to divert North Vietnamese attention from the assault.

1974: Lufthansa flight 540 crashes and burns moments after takeoff, killing 59 people. It was the first major accident involving the Boeing 747.

1978: The US Air Force orders development of the KC-10 Extender.

1998: Air Tahiti Nui commences flight operations.