On This Day in History

  1903:   Orville Wright makes the first sustained, controlled power airplane flight in the Kill Devil Hills, near Kitty Hawk. In the fourth, and longest flight of the day, flown by Wilbur, the Wright Flyer […]

  1964:   The 1st armed reconnaissance mission is flown in Laos, code named Barrel Roll. This mission initiates continuous tactical fighter operations in SEA.

  2001:   President George W. Bush informs Russia that US would withdraw from the 1972 ABM Treaty to develop and implement a missile defense system.

1944:   MEDAL OF HONOR: Maj Richard I. Bong, with 38 aerial victories, receives the medal from General MacArthur in ceremonies in the Philippines. Citation: http://www.cmohs.org/recipient-detail/2646/bong-richard-i.php  

    1941:   Germany and Italy declare war on the United States; Congress respond in kind with a similar declaration against them.

1954:   On a rocket-propelled sled run, Lt Col John P. Stapp attains 632 MPH (equal to Mach 1.7 at 35,000 feet) and decelerates to zero in 1.4 seconds. He experiences the greatest G-force ever endured

1941:   The Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, bringing the US into World War II. 18th Pursuit Wing P-40 pilots shoot down 10 enemy planes, 4 by 2Lt George S. Welch.

1995:   Operation JOINT ENDEAVOR. USAF airlifters start moving troops and equipment to Bosnia to support this NATO operation.

2001: Operation NOBLE EAGLE. The 125th Fighter Wing (Florida Air National Guard) sends its F-15s to patrol the skies over the Kennedy Space Center for the Space Shuttle Endeavour launch. It was the first shuttle

1996:   At Hill AFB an F-16 Fighting Falcon logs the five millionth hour of flying time for the F-16 fleet. Captain Kurt Gallegos of the West Coast F-16 Demonstration Team flies the Falcon. Major Mike