1897 – Birth of Hazel LeRoy Wallace, Canadian World War I fighter ace.
1907 – The first free flight of a rotary-wing aircraft takes place when the Cornu helicopter, a French experimental craft, lifts inventor Paul Cornu (shown above) a foot above the ground for 20 seconds.
1942 – A U.S. Navy Vought OS2U Kingfisher floatplane rescues U.S. World War I ace Eddie Rickenbacker and two other survivors of a ditched Boeing B-17D Flying Fortress from a life raft; they had been adrift in the Pacific for 22 days.
1944 – Civil air services to London are restored with the first flights carried out by Railway Air Services.
1947 – First flight of the Armstrong Whitworth A.W.52, a British turbojet-powered flying wing.
1985 – Death of Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin, Soviet World War II fighter ace and marshal of the Soviet Air Force.