Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger III is 73 years old today. 

Sully is a retired Air Force fighter pilot, diplomat, and airline
pilot best known for his heroism as captain of US Airways
Flight 1549 that he ditched in the Hudson River in 2009 after
both engines were disabled by a bird strike. All those aboard
the aircraft survived the ordeal.

Passengers stand on the wings of a US Airways Flight 1549
after it landed in the Hudson River, New York, January 15,
2009.

Edwin Eugene “Buzz” Aldrin Jr.

Apollo 11 astronaut Edwin Eugene "Buzz" Aldrin Jr., who
reimagined the potential of human achievement before a
worldwide audience when he walked on the moon, was
born on this day in history, Jan. 20, 1930.

"The sky is not the limit … There are footprints on the
Moon!" the explorer enthused in his 2016 book, "No
Dream Is Too High: Life Lessons From a Man Who Walked
on the Moon."

The Apollo 11 mission was the first in human history to land
men on earth’s satellite, fulfilling a dream as old as humanity
itself. 

This photo of Buzz Aldrin was taken by Neil Armstrong
during the first manned mission to the moon in 1969.

(FOX NEWS) – Aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart departed on a
journey to become the first pilot to successfully fly solo from
Hawaii to mainland United States on this day in history, Jan.
11, 1935.

The daring flight across a vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean
had claimed the lives of 10 previous aviators. She earned
$10,000 from promoters in Hawaii for her death-defying
achievement.

 
Amelia Earhart on Jan. 12, 1935, after the first Hawaii-to-California flight. She was the first pilot to succeed at
flying the route.

The Hughes Flying Boat—at one time the largest aircraft ever built—
was piloted by designer Howard Hughes on its first and only flight.

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

Today the Spruce Goose remains in good condition and is on display in McMinnville, Oregon at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum.

      
U.S. Air Force Captain Chuck Yeager became the first person
to fly faster than the speed of sound.
        
        
        

Yeager, born in Myra, West Virginia, in 1923, was a combat fighter
during World War II and flew 64 missions over Europe. He shot
down 13 German planes and was himself shot down over France,
but he escaped capture with the assistance of the French
Underground.

After the war, he was among several volunteers chosen to test-fly
the experimental X-1 rocket plane, built by the Bell Aircraft
Company to explore the possibility of supersonic flight.

On October 14, 1947, Yeager flew the X-1 over Rogers Dry Lake in Southern California. The craft was lifted to an altitude of 25,000
feet by a B-29 aircraft and then released through the bomb bay,
rocketing to 40,000 feet and exceeding 662 miles per hour
(the sound barrier at that altitude).

Because of the secrecy of the project, Yeager’s achievement was not announced until June 1948. Yeager continued to serve as a test pilot,
and in 1953 he flew 1,650 miles per hour in an X-1A rocket plane.

He retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1975 with the rank of brigadier.

    
        
 
Brigadier General Charles Elwood Yeager
(February 13, 1923 – December 7, 2020)