1905 – Birth of Constantin “Kostia” Wladimir Rozanoff, French World War II fighter pilot, test pilot, French air force colonel and a pioneer of jet aviation.
1918 – British World War I flying aces Arthur Rowe Spurling (pilot) and George Stanley Bell (observer/gunner), flying an Airco DH.9 bomber, shoot down five Fokker D.VII fighters on a single mission.
1944 – A U.S. Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber crashes into a school in Freckleton, England, killing 61 people, including 38 children.
1954 – First flight of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules (shown above), an American turboprop military transport aircraft.
1977 – The Gossamer Condor becomes the first human-powered airplane, flying a figure-8 course to demonstrate sustained, controlled flight. Piloted by amateur cyclist and hang-glider pilot Bryan Allen, it is capable of taking off under human power.
2010 – Death of Marcel Albert, French World War II fighter ace.
