1911: Edouard Niéport, a racing cyclist before he went into aircraft construction, sets a new speed record of 74.4mph flying his “Nieuport” monoplane powered by a 28-hp engine.
1926: The first airship flight over the North Pole and the first crossing of the Arctic Ocean is made by Roald Amundsen of Norway, Umberto Nobile of Italy, Lincoln Ellsworth of the United States, and their crew in an Italian-built semi-rigid airship, N-1, Norge.
1927: Charles Lindbergh lands his new Ryan airplane, the Spirit of St. Louis, in St. Louis after a record non-stop overnight flight from San Diego of 14 hours, 25 minutes.
1934: First flight of the Douglas DC-2.
1945: The aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill is struck by two Kamikazes, killing 346 crewmembers.
1961: Jet Propulsion Laboratory briefed NASA headquarters on the Venus radar tracking experiment, after 2 months of intensive study begun on March 10.
1996: ValueJet 592, a DC-9-30 crashes in the Everglades after departing MIA due to a fire caused by the activation of improperly stored oxygen generators. All 110 passengers and crew perished.
