The body of aviation hero Charles Lindbergh’s baby is found on May 12,
1932, more than two months after he was kidnapped from his family’s
Hopewell, New Jersey, mansion.

Lindbergh, who became the first worldwide celebrity five years earlier
when he flew The Spirit of St. Louis across the Atlantic, and his wife
Anne discovered a ransom note in their 20-month-old child’s empty
room on March 1. The kidnapper had used a ladder to climb up to the
open second-floor window and had left muddy footprints in the room
and in barely legible English, the ransom note demanded $50,000.

The crime captured the attention of the entire nation. The Lindbergh
family was inundated by offers of assistance and false clues. Even
Al Capone offered his help from prison, though it of course was
conditioned on his release. For three days, investigators had
found nothing and there was no further word from the kidnappers.

Then, a new letter showed up, this time demanding $70,000.

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

Launching of the Mercury-Redstone 3 (MR-3) rocket from Cape
Canaveral on astronaut Alan B. Shepard’s Freedom 7 suborbital
mission. 

From Cape Canaveral, Florida, Navy Commander Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr.
is launched into space aboard the Freedom 7 space capsule, becoming the
first American astronaut to travel into space. The suborbital flight, which
lasted 15 minutes and reached a height of 116 miles into the atmosphere,
was a major triumph for NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration.

BRIAN THOMAS

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

Charles Lindbergh was a aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and
activist. At age 25 in 1927, he went from obscurity as a U.S. Air Mail pilot
to instantaneous world fame by winning the Orteig Prize for making a
nonstop flight from New York to Paris.

Nancy Kerrigan cries in pain after the attack.

Former figure skater Nancy Kerrigan (above) was clubber on her right leg
by an assailant on this day in 1994. The attacker was hired by the ex-
husband of her rival Tonya Harding.  Four men were later sentenced to
prison for the attack, including Harding’s ex-husband.

Nancy Kerrigan turned 50 last October.

Tonya Maxene Price (née Harding) became 49 in
November.

 
    
    
Near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright make the first
successful flight in history of a self-propelled, heavier-than-air aircraft.

Orville piloted the gasoline-powered, propeller-driven biplane, which
stayed aloft for 12 seconds and covered 120 feet on its inaugural
flight.

Orville Wright (left) and brother Wilbur.

The Wright Brothers’ 1903 Flyer, which is on display at the National
Air & Space Museum in Washington, DC.