SANDY KOZEL

On this day in 1927, Charles A. Lindberg completed the first solo
nonstop airplane flight from New York, crossing the Atlantic Ocean
and landing his Spirit of St. Louis in Paris France.

CAMILLE
BOHANNON

   
    
  
Charles Lindbergh and the Spirit of St. Louis on the way to Paris.

Crowds race to meet Charles Lindbergh after he lands the Spirit of St. Louis in Paris.

Charles Augustus Lindbergh
(February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974)

On May 20, 1932, Amelia Earhart took off from Newfoundland; she
landed in Ireland nearly 15 hours later, becoming the first woman
to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

Amelia Mary Earhart  (July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937)

SANDY KOZEL

The Hindenburg flies over Manhattan on May 6, 1937.

Hindenburg Crash Site Memorial today in Lakehurst, NJ .

ROSS SIMPSON

Francis Gary Powers’ U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet
Union on this day in 1960. Powers (below) was taken prisoner.

The charred wreckage of U.S. pilot Francis Gary Powers’ U-2 spy
plane is shown on display at the Central Armed Forces Museum
in Moscow, April 30, 2010. (AP)

ED DONAHUE

The world’s worst nuclear disaster to date occurred at Chernobyl, in Kiev
on this day in 1986.. Thirty-one people died in the incident and thousands
more were exposed to radioactive material.