THE FIRST HALF OF MAY AT A GLANCE

Anniversaries: The 55^th anniversary of the Kent State massacre (5/4); the 65^th of the shooting down of Francis Gary Powers in his U-2 over Russia (5/1); the 75^th of the first flight of the rocket plane Bell X-1A #1 (Chuck Yeager would later fly it through the “sound barrier,” 5/12); the 80^th of the capture of Wernher von Braun and many of his engineers (5/2) and the death of six civilians caused by a Japanese balloon bomb, the only civilian casualties in the USA Zone of Interior in WWII (5/5); the 85^th of the first flight of the prototype of the Douglas SBD dive bomber (5/1); the 90^th of Ellen Church becoming the first-ever flight attendant (5/15); the 95^th of the opening of Chicago’s Adler Planetarium (5/12; see this installment’s Item of the Week); the 110^th of the sinking of the Lusitania (5/7); and the 115^th of the creation of Glacier National Park (5/11)

Birthdays: “Boy” Jockey Steve Cauthen is now 65 (5/1); actor Bruce Boxleitner (5/12) and singer Stevie Wonder (5/13) are 75; author Peter Benchley and singer Ricky Nelson would have been 85 (5/8); and cryptic-remarker Yogi Berra (5/12) and jazz trumpeter Al Porcino (5/14) would have been 100

In the Sky: The Moon reaches First Quarter at 9:52 AM EDT on Sunday, May 4; Full Moon occurs at 12:56 AM EDT on Tuesday, May 13 (aka the “Flower Moon”)

Thursday, May 1

Today in Air and Space History

1940: First flight of the Douglas SBD dive bomber, mainstay of the U.S. fleet at the start of WWII. SBD's were credited with the first Japanese ship sunk in WWII, and were instrumental in the victories at Coral Sea and Midway.

1944: B-17 ball turret gunner Sgt. Maynard H. Smith became the first enlisted airman to earn a Congressional Medal of Honor (one of four in WWII). 

1944: John Galvin, pilot of a Vought OS2U "Kingfisher" floatplane from the battleship North Carolina, taxied nine airmen downed in an attack on Truk and brought them to lifeguard submarine Tang. Tang rescued 22 airmen that day (including Galvin, whose plane was damaged during the rescues).

1960: Russians shot down Francis Gary Powers’ U-2 spy plane flying over their territory, using an SA-2 antiaircraft missile. 

1966: Civilian parachutist Nick Piantanida sustained mortal decompression injuries during his third attempt to set high-altitude free fall record.

Other Events this Date: “Buffalo” Bill Cody staged his first Wild West Show (1883), Elvis married Priscilla Beaulieu (1967)

Today’s Birthdays:Labor advocate “Mother” Jones (1830), singer Kate Smith (1907), actor Glenn Ford (1916), TV host Jack Paar (1918), singer Judy Collins (1939), Buckinghams bassist Nick Fortuna (1946), jockey Steve Cauthen (1960), and Black Crowes bassist Johnny Colt (1966)

Friday, May 2

Today in Air and Space History

1923: Lts. Oakley Kelly and John Macready began the first non-stop trans-continental flight, flying a Fokker T-2. They took just under 27 hours to fly coast-to-coast, and would win the Mackay Trophy for 1923 for their accomplishment.

1945: German rocket expert, Wernhervon Braun, and many of his team, were captured by American soldiers.

Other Events this Date:Good Housekeeping magazine debuted (1885), Jack Benny had his radio premiere (1932), Ella Fitzgerald recorded A-Tisket, A-Tasket (1938), Stan Musial homered five times in a double header (1954)

Today’s Birthdays: Catherine the Great (1729), orderly parliamentary proceduralist Henry Roberts (1837), baby doctor Benjamin Spock (1903), crooner Bing Crosby (1904), actor/producer Lorenzo Music (1937), and Steppenwolf keyboardist Goldy McJohn (1945)

Saturday, May 3

Today in Air and Space History

1961:First silo launch at Vandenberg AFB, a USAF Titan missile.

Other Events this Date: The Andrews Sisters recorded Beer Barrel Polka (1939), Whirlaway, with Eddie Arcaro aboard, won the Kentucky Derby and later the Triple Crown (1941), The Fantasticks opened off Broadway (longest running play, 1960), National Public Radio was founded (1971)

Today’s Birthdays: Folk singer Pete Seeger (1919), boxer Sugar Ray Robinson (1921), trombonist Jimmy Cleveland (1926), hard-working James Brown (1933), singer Frankie Valli (1934), and bassists Pete Staples (The Troggs, 1944) and Bruce Hall (REO Speedwagon, 1953)

Sunday, May 4

Today in Air and Space History

1961: Flight surgeon and pressure suit expert Victor Prather drowned at the otherwise-successful end of the high-altitude Stratolab Hi-V ascension. 

1967: Launch of Lunar Orbiter 4, one of five successful pre-Apollo orbital reconnaissance missions.

1976: Launch of the LAGEOS geodesy satellite.

1989: Launch of STS-30 Space Shuttle Atlantis, carrying the Magellan Venus orbiter, which proved to be phenomenally successful.

Other Events this Date: The gramophone was patented (1886), Belmont Park racetrack opened (1905), Al Capone was jailed for tax evasion (1932), the soap opera, Another World, premiered (1964), four students were killed by National Guardsmen at Kent State University (1970)

Today’s Birthdays: Famed educator Horace Mann (1796), trumpeter Maynard Ferguson (1928), actress Audrey Hepburn (1929), The Troggs drummer Ronnie Bond (1943), Santa Claus versus the Martians actress Pia Zadora (1954), and singer/dancer/would-be astronaut Lance Bass (1979)

In the Sky: The Moon reaches First Quarter at 9:52 AM EDT

Monday, May 5

Today in Air and Space History

1945: Six picnickers, including five children, were killed by the explosion of a Japanese balloon bomb near Lake View, Oregon. They were the only casualties of a significant effort by the Japanese to use jet stream winds to deliver balloon-borne bombs to the U.S. from launching sites in Japan and are the only WWII civilian casualties on the U.S. mainland due to combat action.

1961:Alan B. Shepard became the first American in Space!

Other Events This Date: The AMA was organized (1847), Carnegie Hall was dedicated (1891), Damn Yankees opened on Broadway (1955)

Today’s Birthdays: Card-carrying (buggy driver’s license) Marxist Karl Marx (1818); journalist Nellie Bly (1864); actors Tyrone Power (1914) and Alice Faye (1915); singer Tammy Wynette (1942); Monty Python’s Michael Palin (1943); and Adam & The Ants bassist Kevin Mooney (1962)

Tuesday, May 6

Today in Air and Space History

1937: “Oh the Humanity!” The dirigibleHindenburg exploded and burned during landing at Lakehurst, New Jersey.

1941: First test flight of the XP-47 "Thunderbolt" fighter, the heaviest in WWII. It would become a formidable long-distance, high-altitude escort/interceptor, and a very good ground attack aircraft.

1968: Neil Armstrong, who would become the first human to walk on the Moon fourteen months hence, ejected safely from a malfunctioning Lunar Lander Research Vehicle 1 just before it crashed.

Other Events this Date: The Eiffel Tower was dedicated (1889, it was the world’s tallest structure, perceptions of it changed after the 1910 Paris air show…), Babe Ruth hit his first home run (1915), Roger Bannister ran the first four-minute mile (1954)

Today’s Birthdays: Psycho-analyst Sigmund Freud (1856), explorer Robert Peary (1856), actor Rudolf Valentino (1895), restaurateur Toots Shor (1903), actor Orson Welles (1915), baseball great Willie Mays (1931), and actor George Clooney (1961)

Wednesday, May 7

Today in Air and Space History

1963: Launch of Telstar 2, a very early communications satellite, but also a probe of the Van Allen radiation belts.

1992: Launch of STS-49 Space Shuttle Endeavour, which would capture wayward Intelsat 6, attach a booster, and send it to its proper orbit.

Other Events this Date: The ocean liner Lusitania was sunk by a German U-boat, killing many U.S. civilians (1915), The Mamas and the Papas released Monday, Monday (1966)

Today’s Birthdays: Poet Robert Browning (1812); composers Johannes Brahms (1833) and Tchaikovsky (1840), sidekick Gabby Hayes (1885), actor Gary Cooper (1901), quarterback Johnny Unitas (1933), TV moderator Tim Russert (1950), and singer Janis Ian (1951)

Thursday, May 8

Today in Air and Space History

1942: The Battle of the Coral Sea concluded today, the first naval engagement by carrier aircraft only; neither fleet saw the other. The Americans lost carrier Lexington, with carrier Yorktown damaged; the Japanese lost light carrier Shoho, with carrier Shokaku damaged.

1945: V-E Day! (the surrender document had been signed the previous day)

Other Events this Date: Dr. John S. Pemberton sold formula for elixir that would become famous as Coca-Cola (for $2300!, 1886), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, starring Zero Mostel, opened on Broadway (1962)

Today’s Birthdays: President Truman (1884), comedian Don Rickles (1926), boxer Sonny Liston (1932), author Peter “Jaws” Benchley (1940), singer Ricky Nelson (1940), and actress Melissa Gilbert (1964)

Friday, May 9

Today in Air and Space History

1926: Richard E. Byrd and pilot Floyd Bennett, flying the JosephineFord, a Fokker F.VII trimotor monoplane, claimed to overfly the North Pole.

1932: Army Air Corps Captain Albert F. Hegenberger completed first totally "blind" solo flight (he was also on the first flight into Hawaii). 

1965: Launch of Luna 5. It would crash into the Moon in a failed attempt at a robotic soft landing.

Other Events this Date: Oriole Jim Gentile hit Grand Slams in consecutive innings (1961), The Beatles signed their first record contract (1962), Louie Armstrong hit #1 with Hello, Dolly (1964), Vladimir Horowitz received a half-hour “Standing O” at Carnegie Hall (1965)

Today’s Birthdays: Abolitionist John Brown (1800), Ventures guitarist Nokie Edwards (1935), TV writer James L. Brooks (1940), Dizzy singer Tommy Roe (1942), actress Candace Bergen (1946), singer Billy Joel (1949), and Cheap Trick (Twelve-Stringed!) bassist Tom Petersson (1950)

Saturday, May 10

Today in Air and Space History

1940: Germany began its "Blitzkrieg" assault of the Low Countries using paratroops and troop-carrying gliders.

1967: "We can rebuild him…" Experimental aircraft "lifting body" M2-F3crashed, severely injuring pilot Bruce Peterson. Footage of the crash was later used in the opening credits of The Six Million Dollar Man. The plane was re-built, and flown again; Peterson, not so much. See the archived Item of the Week about him here.

Other Events this Date: Golden Spike ceremony held at Promontory, Utah, where the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads met to form first transcontinental railroad (1869)

Today’s Birthdays: Dancer Fred Astaire (1899); Laugh-In announcer Gary Owens (1936); Danny and the Juniors frontman Danny Rapp (1941); and singers Donovan (Leitch) and Dave Mason (both 1946), and U-2’s Bono (1960)

Sunday, May 11

Today in Air and Space History

1949: Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson approved the Air Force desegregation plan ordered by President Truman. The plans for the Navy and Army were returned for revision.

Other Events this Date: Minnesota admitted to Union as 32^nd state (1858), Glacier National Park was created (1910)

Today’s Birthdays: Composer Irving Berlin (1888), dancer Martha Graham (1894), artist Salvador Dali (1904), TV con-man Phil Silvers (1911), Animals frontman Eric Burdon (1941), and Gerry & The Pacemakers bassist Les Chadwick (1943)

Monday, May 12

Today in Air and Space History

1926: The Italian dirigible Norgeflew over the North Pole, the first dirigible to do so.

1930: Chicago’s Adler Planetarium opened

1949: The Soviet Union re-opened ground routes to Berlin, ending need for the "Berlin Airlift."

1950: The Bell X-1 #1, the first aircraft to fly faster than the speed of sound, made its final flight.

1958:NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) agreement signed by U.S. and Canada governments.

Other Events This Date: Mick Jagger married Bianca Perez Morena de Macias (1971), NOAA announced, henceforth, that hurricane designations would alternate between male and female names (1978)

Today’s Birthdays: Nurse Florence Nightingale (1820), WAVES Director and Wellesley President Mildred McAfee (1900), actress Katharine Hepburn (1907), catcher and cryptic remark-maker Yogi Berra (1925), comedian George Carlin (1937), TRON actor Bruce Boxleitner (1950)

Tuesday, May 13

Today in Air and Space History

1964: Launch of Apollo A-001, a flying test of the Apollo escape rocket, on a "Little Joe II" booster, at White Sands.

Other Events this Date: Louie Armstrong recorded When the Saints Go Marching In (1938), Pajama Game premiered on Broadway (1954), tennis hustler Bobby Riggs beat Margaret Court in the first tennis “Battle of the Sexes” (1973)

Today’s Birthdays: Operetta composer Arthur Sullivan (1842); boxer Joe Lewis (1914); Maude actress Bea Arthur (1923); actor Harvey Keitel (1939); singers Richie Valens (1941) and Mary Wells (1943); bassists Danny Klein (J. Geils Band, 1946) and Overend Watts (Mott the Hoople, 1947); and singer Stevie Wonder (1950)

Wednesday, May 14

Today in Air and Space History

1908: Wright Brothers employee Charles Furnas became the first airplane passenger ever, flying with Wilbur at Kitty Hawk.

1952: Buzz Aldrin, flying an F-86, shot down a MiG-15 in Korea. The ejecting foe showed up well in Buzz’ gun camera record, and Life Magazine published the pictures prominently. Buzz was awarded a DFC for this action.

1973: Launch of Skylab, the first U.S. SpaceStation.

1978: William Lear, builder of the first executive jet aircraft, died at age 75. A WWI naval radio operator, he also developed the first practical automobile radio and invented the 8-track tape player. LearJet (now part of Bombardier Aerospace) was founded in 1960.

Other Events this Date: The St. Louis Olympics opened (first held in USA, 1904), Duke Ellington recorded Caravan (1937)

Today’s Birthdays:Blue Boy artist Thomas Gainsborough (1727), character actor Richard Deacon (1921), jazz trumpeter Al Porcino (1925), hockey goalie great (“My Face IS My Mask”) Gump Worsley (1929), singer Bobby Darin (1936), Big Red RBI guy Tony Perez (1942), Cream bassist Jack Bruce (1943), Herman’s Hermits guitarist Derek Leckenby (1943), producer George Lucas (1944),  Young Rascals guitarist Gene Cornish (1946), Talking Head David Byrne (1952), and director Robert Zemeckis (1952)

Thursday, May 15

Today in Air and Space History

1918: President Wilson signed legislation creating the U.S. Air Mail Service. Seven Curtiss JN-4H biplanes carried mail from DC to New York.

1930:Ellen Church became the first airline flight attendant, on Boeing Air Transport’s (United Airlines forerunner) SF to Cheyenne route.

1958: Launch of Sputnik 3, a successful probe that examined conditions in near-Earth Space.

1963: Launch of Mercury-Atlas 9, the last flight of Project Mercury. AstronautGordonCooper spent 34.3 hours aloft, making 22 orbits.

1997: Launch of STS-84 Space Shuttle Atlantis on the sixth Shuttle mission to Space Station Mir.

Other Events this Date: U.S. Department of Agriculture was created (1862)

Today’s Birthdays:Oz author L. Frank Baum (1856), photographer Richard Avedon (1923), golfer Ken Venturi (1931), singer Trini Lopez (1937), Little River Band guitarist Graham Goble (1947), pine tar-iferous baseballer George Brett (1953), and composer/guitarist Mike Oldfield (Tubular Bells, 1953)

THE SECOND HALF OF MAY AT A GLANCE

Anniversaries: The 40^th anniversary of Michael Jordan being named NBA Rookie of the Year (5/16); the 45^th of the eruption of Mt. St. Helens (5/18); the 50^th of the establishment of the European Space Agency (5/31); the 80^th of a wartime sinking using a radar-guided missile (5/27); the 85^th of the first flight by the prototype of the Chance Vought “Corsair” fighter plane (5/29); and the 90^th of the crash of Russia’s giant Maxim Gorky airplane (5/18) and the first MLB game being played at night (5/24)

Birthdays: Olympic gymnast Olga Korbut is 70 (5/16); lyricist Bernie Taupin is 75 (5/22); lead guitarist for The Who, Pete Townshend, (5/19) and John Fogarty of CCR (5/28) are 80; actress Lee Meriwether is 90; Ho Chi Minh and Malcom X would have been 100 (5/19); and actor Henry Fonda would have been 120 (5/16)

In the Sky: The Moon reaches Last Quarter at 7:59 AM EDT on Tuesday, May 20; New Moon occurs at 11:02 PM EDT on Monday, May 26