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)

The Spruce Goose, the first aircraft with a wingspan in excess of 300 feet, the largest flying boat ever built, made its one and only flight on
November 2, 1947, in Long Beach, California. It was designed and constructed by Howard Hughes and his Aircraft Company.

Howard Robard Hughes Jr.(December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976)

Howard Hughes, one of the richest men to emerge from the American West during the 20th century, died while being flown from Acapulco
to Houston,Texas.

SANDY KOZEL

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.

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.