1898: Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly alone across the Atlantic Ocean and one of the world’s most famous aviators, is born in Atchinson, Kansas.

1917: Congress approves the expenditure of $640 million on military aviation. It is the largest single appropriation approved by Congress.

1943: The Royal Air Force (RAF) use “Window,” metal foil dropped to confuse enemy radar, for the first time.

1946: Bernard Lynch becomes the first person to be “shot” out of an airplane. Lynch was involved in the first airborne test of a British “ejection seat.”