On This Day in History

1946:   Operation CROSSROADS.  USAAF Task Group 1.5 conducts 2nd phase of this test grouping, Test Baker, bursting A-bomb underwater off Bikini Island.

1964:   President Johnson confirms the SR-71’s development during the 1964 presidential campaign.

1948:   The Military Air Transport Service deploys men and equipment to establish an Airlift Task Force in Germany to relieve Berlin. Maj Gen William H. Tunner commands the Task Force operations under USAFE’s operational control.

1969:   APOLLO XI. Astronauts Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, Jr., fly lunar module Eagle to the Sea of Tranquility.

1934:   Thru 20 Aug, Lt Col Henry H. Arnold commands 10 Martin B-10s from Bolling Field to Fairbanks and back; he receives the Mackay Trophy and the Distinguished Flying Cross.

1967:   For the 1st time,  an HC-130 refuels an HH-3E Jolly Green Giant helicopter is during a rescue mission. (1968 Photo)

  1962:   Maj Robert White flies X-15 No. 3 with the XLR-99 rocket engine on the first spaceflight by a manned aircraft: Altitude 58.7 miles (314,750 ft.), speed in excess of Mach 6 (3,784 mph).

1971 – Brig Gen Jeanne Holm becomes 1st female general officer in the US Air Force. She is pinned by Secretary of the Air Force Robert C. Seamans, Jr. and Lt Gen Robert J. Dixon,

1921:   Brig Gen Billy Mitchell’s bombers sink several capital ships off Virginia to prove this capability of unopposed aircraft.

1990:   The USAF receives the 59th and last F-117A Stealth Fighter from Lockheed.