JUL21
1888 - Birth of Clarence K. Bronson, pioneer aviator in the United States Navy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_K._Bronson
1890 - Birth of Marcel Robert Leopold Bloch, French WWI flying ace
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Bloch_(aviator) - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/france/bloch.php
1890 - Birth of Harold Ernest Goettler, WWI U.S. Army Air Service aviator.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Ernest_Goettler
1891 - Birth of Gilbert Marie de Guingand, French WWI flying ace
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_de_Guingand - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/france/de_guingand.php
1893 - Birth of Maurice Edmund Mealing, British WWI fighter ace.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Mealing - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/england/mealing.php
1896 - Birth of Laurence Minot, British WWI flying ace
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurence_Minot_(aviator) - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/england/minot.php
1899 - Birth of George Brian Gates, British WWI fighter ace
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Gates - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/england/gates.php
1911 - Death of Denise Moore (sometimes reported as Deniz Moore), pseudonym of E. Jane-Wright, British aviator, 1st known female aviator to die in a flight accident.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denise_Moore
1915 - Birth of Aleksandr Gerasimovich Baturin, Soviet WWII fighter ace.
http://www.cieldegloire.com/015_baturin_a_g.php - http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/soviet_baturin.htm
1916 - Death of Otto Parschau, German WWI flying ace, one of the world's 1st flying aces and one of the original pilots entrusted with the revolutionary fighter plane with a machine gun synchronized to fire safely through its propeller arc via use of an interrupter gear, from wounds recived in action.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Parschau - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/parschau.php
1918 - Death of Otto Esswein, German WWI flying ace, killed in action Near Hartennes-et-Taux, France.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Esswein - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/esswein.php
1919 - Anthony Fokker founds the Dutch Aircraft Company at Schipol, near Amsterdam.
http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fokker_(bedrijf)
1919 – The dirigible 'Wingfoot Air Express' crashes into the Illinois Trust and Savings Building in Chicago, killing 12 people. The report of the inquiry into the accident were made public, 1st time in the UK that an accident report had been published.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wingfoot_Air_Express_Crash
1921 – United States Army Air Service Martin NBS-1 bombers sink the decommissioned German battleship Ostfriesland in the Atlantic Ocean off the Virginia Capes after Billy Mitchell urges bombing trials to show the power of aircraft to sink major warships.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Ostfriesland#Fate - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Mitchell_(general)#Rules_of_engagement
1930 - Walcot Air Line Junkers F.13ge broke apart in mid-air and crashed near Meopham, Kent, with the loss of all 6 on board.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meopham_air_disaster
1932 - Hans Wolfgang von Gronau sets out from List auf Sylt (Northern Germany) to make a round-the-world trip in a Dornier Wal. 111 days later, it will be the 1st such trip made in a flying boat.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dornier_Do_J#Transatlantikfl.C3.BCge_und_-versuche_mit_dem_Wal
1936 - Death of Earle Lewis Ovington, American aeronautical engineer, aviator and inventor, who piloted the 1st official airmail flight in the US.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earle_Lewis_Ovington
1936 - The sole Northrop XFT, American prototype fighter aircraft, entered a spin and crashed in the Allegheny Mountains.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_XFT
1938 - 1st transatlantic flight for the Short S.20 Mercury, upper long-range unit of the Short Mayo Composite, launched from the Short S.21 Maia near Foynes, on the west coast of Ireland, to Boucherville, Montreal, Canada, a flight of 2,930 miles (4,714.4 km). 1st commercial non-stop East-to-West transatlantic flight by a heavier-than-air machine. This initial journey took 20 hrs 21 min at an average ground speed of 144 mph (232 km/h).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_Mayo_Composite#Operations
1939 - 1st flight of the Loire Nieuport LN-10, French prototype long-range maritime reconnaissance and combat floatplane.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loire-Nieuport_10 - http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=1074
1939 - 1st flight of The Short S.26 G-class, british 4 engine large transport flying-boat.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_S.26
1941 - 195 Bombers of the Luftwaffe raids for the 1st time the Soviet capital Moscow.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luftangriffe_auf_Moskau
1943 - 1st flight of The Curtiss XP-62, American prototype heavily armed, high-performance, single engine fighter aircraft.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss_XP-62
1944 - 1st flight of the Mikoyan/Gurevich I-225, Soviet fighter prototype.
http://www.aviastar.org/air/russia/mig_i-225.php
1944 - 5,936th and Last produced Douglas SBD Dauntless, american naval dive bomber, rolled off the assembly lines at Douglas Aircraft Company's El Segundo plant
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_SBD_Dauntless#U.S._Navy_and_Marine_Corps
1946 - USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CV-42) became the 1st American carrier to operate an all-jet aircraft under controlled conditions. Lt. Cmdr. James Davidson, flying the McDonnell XFD-1 Phantom, made a series of successful take-offs and landings as Roosevelt lay off Cape Henry, Virginia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Franklin_D._Roosevelt_(CV-42) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FH_Phantom#Design_and_development
1947 - 1st flight of The Aero Ae-45, Czech twin piston-engined civil utility aircraft, 1st product of the nation's post-WWII aviation industry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aero_Ae-45
1948 - USAF Boeing F-13 Superfortress (Boeing B-29-100-BW Superfortress modified into a reconnaissance platform) performing atmospheric research crashed into the waters of Lake Mead, Nevada, with no fatalities after the pilots misjudged their altitude as the lake was looking like a mirror.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Lake_Mead_Boeing_B-29_crash
1951 - A Canadian Pacific Airlines Douglas C-54A-10-DC (DC-4) departed Vancouver, British Columbia for Anchorage, Alaska but disappeared en route without a trace. Eventually, all 37 on board would be declared legally dead.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1951_Canadian_Pacific_Air_Lines_Douglas_DC-4_disappearance
1952 - Death of Fritz Loerzer, German WWI flying ace
http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/loerzer2.php
1954 - 1st flight of the Farman F-521 'Monitor' III, french 2 seat single engine monoplane trainer prototype.
http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=6647
1956 - Death of Alexander Hamilton Rice, Jr., American physician, geographer, geologist and explorer, He conducted the 1st expedition to use aerial photography and shortwave radio for mapping
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_H._Rice,_Jr
1959 - 1st flight of the PZL MD-12, Polish four-engined short-range passenger and civil utility prototype aircraft
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PZL_MD-12
1960 - 1st flight of the Gardan GY-80 'Horizon', French four-seat touring monoplane with a partially retractable tricycle undercarriage.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOCATA_Horizon - http://aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=2482
1961 - Liberty Bell 7, Mercury-Redstone 4 piloted by astronaut Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, makes a sub-orbital flight. It reached an altitude of over 118.26 mi (190 km) and traveled about 300 mi (480 km) but sunk after reentry.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury-Redstone_4
1961 - Alaska Airlines Flight 779 Douglas DC-6 operating under contract with MATS (Military Air Transport Service) crashed and caught fire on landing at Shemya AFB, Alaska, killing all 6 on board.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Airlines_Flight_779
1962 - 1st flight of the PZL MD-12F, aerial photography variant of the Polish four-engined short-range passenger and civil utility prototype aircraft, fitted with several cameras and other equipment, including a darkroom.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PZL_MD-12#Design_and_development
1964 - Death of Michael Hutterer, German WWI flying ace
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Hutterer - http://theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/hutterer.php
1966 - Gemini 10 (officially Gemini X), American manned spaceflight, returns on earth.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemini_10
1967 - 1st flight of the Wassmer WA-26 'Squale', French single seat competition glider with wooden wings and a glass fibre fuselage.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wassmer_Squale - http://aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=3763
1967 - Death of Frederic Ives "Fred" Lord, American WWI flying ace who also took part in the Russian Civil War, Mexican Revolution, Spanish Civil War and WWII
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederic_Ives_Lord - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/usa/lord.php
1968 - Death of Harold Anthony "Doc" Oaks, Canadian WWI flying ace, bush aviation pionneer. He invented the portable nose hangar, founder of Patricia Airways, manager and sole pilot of a newly-formed Western Canada Airways, inducted into the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Anthony_Oaks - http://theaerodrome.com/aces/canada/oaks.php
1969 - 1st man to step on the moon surface is Neil Armstrong. His immortal 1st words are, "that's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Armstrong#First_Moon_walk - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11#Lunar_surface_operations
1972 - Death of William Frederick James "Jim" Harvey, British WWI fighter ace.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Frederick_James_Harvey - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/england/harvey.php
1973 - Launch of Mars 4, unmanned Soviet spacecraft which intends to explore Mars.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_4#Mars_4
1974 – Operation Niki: the Hellenic Air Force attempts a covert airlift of a battalion of Greek commandos from Souda, Crete, to Cyprus using 15 Noratlas aircraft. Greek Cypriot antiaircraft artillery mistakenly fires on the planes at Nicosia International Airport, shooting down one with the loss of four crew members and 29 commandos, and damages two others.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_operations_during_the_Turkish_invasion_of_Cyprus#21_July_1974
1975 - Death of Allan Hepburn, Australian WWI fighter ace, RAAF high ranking officer in WWII and Regional Director Civil Aviation in New South Wales.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Hepburn - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/australi/hepburn.php
1975 - 1st flight of the IAI Westwind Model 1124, re-engined version of the original Israeli Aircraft Industries 1123 business jet.
http://www.aviastar.org/air/israel/iai_westwind.php
1977 - The Egyptian–Libyan War, short border war between Libya and Egypt, begins.
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerre_%C3%A9gypto-libyenne#Le_conflit
1979 - 1st flight of the Bell 214ST, medium-lift, twin-engine helicopter.
http://www.aviastar.org/helicopters_eng/bell_214st.php
1980 - The General Dynamics F-16 was given its formal nickname of "Fighting Falcon".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-16_Fighting_Falcon#Into_production
1996 - Death of John Kevin Moorhouse, British test pilot, In the crash of a WWII De Havilland Mosquito, last airworthy Mosquito, during an airshow at Barton, Manchester
http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1996/1996%20-%201931.html - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Mosquito#Survivors
1998 - Death of Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr.,American naval aviator, test pilot, flag officer, and NASA astronaut, 1st American in space.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Shepard
2001 - 1st flight of The XCOR EZ-Rocket, American test platform for the XCOR rocket propulsion system. The plane is a modified Rutan Long-EZ, with the propeller replaced by 1st one, then a pair of pressure-fed regeneratively cooled liquid-fuelled rocket engines and an underslung rocket-fuel tank.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XCOR_EZ-Rocket
2002 - Death of John "Cat's Eyes" Cunningham , British RAF WWII night fighter ace and test pilot.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cunningham_(RAF_officer)
2006 - The 17th FAI World Precision Flying Championship begins in Troyes in France with 61 competitors.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/17th_FAI_World_Precision_Flying_Championship
2011 - STS-135, Space shuttle Atlantis mission, is back on earth, final mission of the American Space Shuttle program.