Today in 1909, the first test flights of the world’s first military airplane began. The U.S. Army paid the Wright brothers $25,000 for the Wright Military Flyer.

Today in 1909, Louis Blériot piloted his Blériot XI, a a 25hp monoplane, across the English Channel from Calais, France, to Dover, England.

Today in 1939, the Heinkel He 176 took its first flight in Germany and became the world’s first all-liquid fueled rocket-propelled aircraft.

Today in 1938, Douglas Corrigan crosses the Atlantic receiving national attention because the press was amazed his rattletrap aircraft survived the journey.

Today in 1933, Wiley Hardeman Post took off from Floyd Bennett Field, Long Island, on the first solo around-the-world flight in a Lockheed Model 5C Vega.