On This Day in History

1953: The XC-99, the world’s largest plane to date, makes its first transatlantic flight from Kelly AFB to Frankfurt, Germany, with 60,000 pounds of cargo. For size comparison, The XC-99 is shown in flight c. […]

1942:   When Lt Elza Shahan ferries his P-38 to England, he spots a German FW-200 Condor near Iceland. Shahan turns and shoots the Condor down, becoming the first American Army pilot to shoot down a

  1908: Lts Frank P. Lahm, Benjamin D. Foulois, and Thomas E. Selfridge begin the first, official American airship tests at Fort Myer.

  2003: A C-9A Nightingale (No. 68-10959) assigned to the 375th Airlift Wing at Scott AFB performs the last scheduled C-9 aeromedical evacuation mission.

  1983:           Secretary of Defense Caspar W. Weinberger directs the USAF to deploy 100 Peacekeeper missiles in Mi­nuteman Silos.

  1916: The Wright Company and the Glenn L. Martin Company merge into the Wright Martin Aircraft Corporation. After approximately one year Martin leaves Wright-Martin to once again form his own company.

1945: Flying his “Enola Gay” B-29 from Tinian Island, Col Paul W. Tibbets, Jr. and his crew drop the atomic bomb “Little Boy” on Hiroshima. This photo shows the officers on the mission, with Tibbits

1950: MEDAL OF HONOR. Maj Louis J. Sebille, the 67th Fighter Bomber Squadron Commander, dies near Hamchang, Korea, when he crashes his severely damaged F-51 into an enemy position. Major Sebille posthumously received the first

1964: North Vietnamese torpedo boats attack US destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin. On 7 August, Congress authorizes President Johnson to use all measures to assist South Vietnam. That decision leads to a buildup of

1942: The US begins work on its top secret Manhattan Project to develop an atomic bomb. The photo shows the Hanford B Reactor, the first full-size weapons-grade plutonium production reactor in the world.