On September 21, 1942, the U.S. B-29 Superfortress made its
debut flight in Seattle, Washington. It was the largest bomber
used in the war by any nation.

The B-29 was conceived in 1939 by Gen. Hap Arnold, who was
afraid a German victory in Europe would mean the United States
would be devoid of bases on the eastern side of the Atlantic from
which to counterattack. A plane was needed that would travel
faster, farther, and higher than any then available, so Boeing set
to creating the four-engine heavy bomber.

The plane was extraordinary, able to carry loads almost equal to
its own weight at altitudes of 30,000 to 40,000 feet. It also sported
the first radar bombing system of any U.S. bomber.

ED DANAHUE

Sofia Loren is 88 years young today.

As of 2022, Loren is one of the last surviving major
stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema and
is the only remaining living person on AFI ‘s list.

She holds the record for having earned seven David
di Donatello Awards for Best Actress. She has won
five special Golden Globes (including the Cecil B.
DeMille Award), a BAFTA Award, a Laurel Award, a
Grammy Award, the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the
Venice Film Festival and the Best Actress Award at the
Cannes Film Festival. In 1991, she received the Academy
Honorary Award for lifetime achievements.

   
Undated photo released by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The remains of a sailor from Massachusetts
who died when the USS Oklahoma was struck by multiple torpedoes during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 are being buried
at Arlington National Cemetery on today.

The interment comes more than 80 years after the attack that drew
the U.S. into World War II and nearly four years after the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced that Electrician’s Mate
18 year old 3rd Class Roman W. Sadlowski, of Pittsfield, had
been accounted for using advanced DNA and anthropological
analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence. 

On September 18, 1793, George Washington laid the cornerstone
to the United States Capitol building, the home of the legislative
branch of American government. The building would take nearly
a century to complete, as architects came and went, the British
set fire to it and it was called into use during the Civil War.

The U.S. Capitol under construction, 1860

This celebration of one of the most iconic and delicious foods has
been taking place every year since the early part of the Roaring 20s.

The story goes that a teenager, Lionel Sternberger, who was working
in his father’s sandwich shop, The Rite Spot in Pasadena, California, 
just decided to put a slice of American cheese on a burger one day        
and found it to be tasty so he shared the idea with his dad who
liked it too. And, thus, the cheeseburger was born.

Although the idea was thought to be created in California in 1924,
the first actual sandwich to be marketed that was first called the
“cheeseburger” was at Kaelin’s restaurant in Louisville, Kentucky
in 1934. But the following year, in 1935, the term “cheeseburger”
was actually trademarked in another place, at the Humpty Dumpty
Drive-in in Denver, Colorado. It seems that people all over the U.S. 
have taken credit for the invention of the cheeseburger!