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.

Rosalind P. Walter (Palmer) (June 25, 1924 – March 4, 2020)

(FoxNews) – Rosalind P. Walter, also known as "Rosie the Riveter,"
died Wednesday at the age of 95 in New York City.

During World War II, Walter, affectionately called "Roz" by friends, 
worked the night shift driving rivets into the metal bodies of Corsair
fighter planes at a plant in Connecticut, a job previously reserved for
men.

According to The New York Times, a newspaper column about her
inspired a morale-boosting 1942 song that turned her into the
legendary Rosie the Riveter.  

CARLATA BRADLEY

 
On this day in 1962, the Soviet Union exchanged captured American U2 pilot Francis Gary Powers (seated) for the Soviet KGB spy Rudolph Ivanovich Abel (right) being held by the U.S. 

Francis Gary Powers and a U2 recon aircraft .

The Glienicke bridge just after the Powers swap.

William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901 – November 16, 1960)

Leading man Clark Gable was nominated for the Academy Award for Best
actor for his portrayal of Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind (1939). He
gained additional acclaim for his roles in The Misfits (1961), Mutiny on
the Bounty (1935), and Manhattan Melodrama (1934). His last film was
The Misfits, which was also Marilyn Monroe‘s last film. Gable worked
at an Ohio tire company after dropping out of school at age 16.

Clark Gable entered the U.S. Army Air Forces where was awarded military
honors for service, they are: the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal,
American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign
Medal, and World War II Victory Medal. He was a qualified aerial gunner
having received his wings upon completion of flexible gunnery school
at Tyndall field. Gable held the rank of Major when discharged in 1944.