1890 – Birth of Chauncey Milton Vought (shown), American aviation pioneer and engineer.
1937 – First flight of the Fiat G.50, a World War II Italian fighter aircraft; it is Italy’s first single-seat, all-metal monoplane with an enclosed cockpit and retractable landing gear to go into production.
1941 – Eastern Airlines Flight 21, a Douglas DC-3, crashes outside of Atlanta, Ga.; among the eight dead is Maryland Congressman William D. Byron. Of the eight survivors is the U. S. top-scoring ace of World War I and Eastern Airlines president Eddie Rickenbacker, who is gravely injured but eventually recovers.
1955 – George F. Smith becomes the first person to survive a supersonic ejection when he leaves his North American F-100 Super Sabre traveling at Mach 1.05.
1958 – Death of William Charles Campbell, Scottish World War I fighter ace, notable balloon buster and instructor.
2004 – A Beechcraft Super King Air 200 operated by the Republic of Macedonia crashes in thick fog and heavy rain on a mountainside in southeastern Herzegovina; among the victims is Boris Trajkovski, president and supreme commander-in-chief of the Republic of Macedonia.
