Near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright made
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 Wilbur Wright
National Air and Space Museum, Washington DC.
Glenn Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944)
General James Doolittle of the United States Army Air Forces
(USAAF), hero of the daring “Doolittle Raid” on mainland Japan
and later the unified commander of Allied air forces in Europe
in World War II, offered the following high praise to one of his
staff officers in 1944: “Next to a letter from home, Captain Miller,
your organization is the greatest morale builder in the European
Theater of Operations.”
The Captain Miller in question was the trombonist and bandleader
Glenn Miller, the biggest star on the American pop-music scene
in the years immediately preceding World War II and a man who
set aside his brilliant career right at its peak in 1942 to serve his
country as leader of the USAAF dance band.
It was in that capacity that Captain Glenn Miller boarded a single-
engine aircraft (like below) at an airfield outside of London on
December 15, 1944—an aircraft that would go missing over the
English Channel en route to France for a congratulatory
performance for American troops that had recently helped to
liberate Paris.
Starring from left: Robert Culp, William Katt, and Connie Sellecca.
The series premiered as a two-hour pilot movie on March 18, 1981,
and ran until February 2, 1983 on ABC. It was created by producer
Stephen J. Connell.
William Theodore Katt will be 72 years old in February.
SANDY KOZEL
Roger Eugene Maris
(September 10, 1934 – December 14, 1985)
Maris was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 1983.
In response, Maris organized the annual Roger Maris
Celebrity Golf Tournament to raise money for cancer
research and treatment.
Maris died of the disease at age 51 at M.D. Anderson Hospital
in Houston, Texas. He was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery
in Fargo, North Dakota.
Stuart Margolin (January 31, 1940 – December 12, 2022)
Stuart Margolin, the character actor and James Garner buddy
best known for portraying the smarmy yet sweet con man
Evelyn “Angel” Martin on The Rockford Files, has died. He
was 82.
Margolin died Monday, his stepson, actor Max Martini
(The Unit), reported on Instagram. Another stepson,
director Christopher Martini, told The Hollywood Reporter
that Margolin died of natural causes in Staunton, Virginia.
Stuart Margolin and James Garner.
