Today in History – June 16, 1963,  Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space aboard the Soviet Union’s Vostok 6. At the time, Tereshkova had completed three days in space, more than the flight time of all the American astronauts put together. Tereshkova’s story has many gendered aspects. The Soviets seem to have used [...]

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Today in History – June 12, 1979 – Gossamer Albatross crosses the English Channel. The Gossamer Albatross aircraft was designed by Jack MacCready to fly long distances with a human pedaling pilot as the only source of power.  The historic June 12, 1979 flight across the English Channel was piloted by Bryan Allen, covering a [...]

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Today in History – June 9, 1931 – Dr. Robert Hutchings Goddard patents a rocket-powered airplane. Goddard is perhaps best known for the first liquid-fueled rocket,  a very small contraption connected to tanks with gasoline and liquid oxygen, and sitting atop a frame 10 feet tall. It screeched into the air for a few seconds, [...]

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Today in History – July 4, 1997 – Launched on December 4, 1996, Pathfinder impacted the surface of Mars on July 4, 1997 at a velocity of  18 m/s (40 mph) and then bounced into the air 15 times at a maximum height of  15 meters (50 feet), before rolling and coming to rest  1 [...]

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Today in History – May 30, 1932 – Amelia Earhart is first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. She was one of the most famous women aviators in history. Earhart worked as a nurse’s aide in a military hospital in Canada during WWI and became a social worker after attending college. She took her [...]

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