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Today in History

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15,259
Location
Arlington, Virginia
December 17 1903

Near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright make 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.

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GHT

I'll Lock Up
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Location
New Forest
1849 Thomas and William Bowler, felt hat makers, sold their first 'bowler' to William Coke, which he purchased at James Lock & Co. in London.
 
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17,198
Location
New York City
December 17 1903

Near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright make 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.

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1849 Thomas and William Bowler, felt hat makers, sold their first 'bowler' to William Coke, which he purchased at James Lock & Co. in London.

I'm going to call Kitty Hawk the winner of the "bigger historical event of the day" contest.

Also, has there been any greater advance in any shorter period of time than from those 12 seconds and 120 feet at Kitty Hawk to a man on the mood 65 years later?
 
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15,259
Location
Arlington, Virginia
I'm going to call Kitty Hawk the winner of the "bigger historical event of the day" contest.

Also, has there been any greater advance in any shorter period of time than from those 12 seconds and 120 feet at Kitty Hawk to a man on the mood 65 years later?
Crazy how fast flight progressed isnt it?

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3fingers

One Too Many
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1,797
Location
Illinois
40 years later.
Virtavia_B-29_09.jpg
 
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17,198
Location
New York City
Crazy how fast flight progressed isnt it?

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It's amazing.

Heck, they date the invention of air conditioning to 1902 (two years before Kitty Hawk) and, other than shrinking it down, the same science and technical principals were driving the units that were finally becoming widely installed in the 1960s. And today, air-conditioning works less well than it did in the '60s.

But in that same early 1900s-to-1960s timeframe, we went from wood, rope, fabric and 12 horsepower to rockets blasting off to the moon.
 
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18,188
December 17 1903

Near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright make 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.

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I wonder what Orville must have thought in 1947 when Howard Hughes flew his $2.5M Spruce Goose with it's 320' wing span for a total of 26 seconds at an altitude of 70 ft? Wilbur was already deceased but Orville lived until 1948.
 

3fingers

One Too Many
Messages
1,797
Location
Illinois
It's amazing.

Heck, they date the invention of air conditioning to 1902 (two years before Kitty Hawk) and, other than shrinking it down, the same science and technical principals were driving the units that were finally becoming widely installed in the 1960s. And today, air-conditioning works less well than it did in the '60s.

But in that same early 1900s-to-1960s timeframe, we went from wood, rope, fabric and 12 horsepower to rockets blasting off to the moon.
Willis Carrier was a pretty sharp guy. He invented what we know as air conditioning when he was in his 20's, shortly after graduating with an engineering degree. The principles were known before but he made it feasible on a commercial basis.
 
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18,188
Gen James Longstreet was born on this date, 1821. So when he died Jan 2, 1904 he was less than 1 wk short of being 83 yrs old.
 

vitanola

I'll Lock Up
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4,254
Location
Gopher Prairie, MI
Gen Robert E. Lee, likely the most popular General of all time was born on this date Jan 19, 1807.

Most popular "Secesh" General, perhaps.

I think that the fellow from Mount Vernon could give the estimable General Lee a run for his money.


Today is the 101st anniversary of the infamous Zimmerman Telegram.
Zimmermann_Telegram_as_Received_by_the_German_Ambassador_to_Mexico_-_NARA_-_302025.jpg


This bit of German diplomacy was one of the principal factors in stirring up sentiment in favor or war.
 

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