November 29, 1929 - First Flight over the South Pole

This Friday is November 29, 2013. To most people it is just Black Friday, worthy of shopping at discounted prices, but actually, it is the anniversary of the first flight to the South Pole. On November 29, 1929, Naval Aviator Richard Byrd and three others made a voyage to the South Pole. It has been 84 years since the first documented flight to the South Pole. Byrd was able to have the first documented flight over the South Pole because of his prior flights elevating his career giving him the opportunity to take this flight.

Richard Byrd, born October 25, 1888 in Virginia, graduated from the United States Naval Academy. Before his big flight that landed him with 22 citations and special commendations, Byrd commanded a naval station in Nova Scotia. After World War I, he was promoted to lieutenant commander and in 1925, he led the naval air unit of an expedition to Greenland. Byrd was no stranger to being a navigator and would use his extensive skills to take his first polar expedition to the Arctic.

During his expedition to the Arctic, he claimed a vast territory for the United States and named it after his wife. With his trusty pilot Floyd Bennett, Byrd navigated to the North Pole. They claimed to be the first to fly over the North Pole, but his claim was later disputed. For this expedition he received a Medal of Honor for the achievement. After this flight, Byrd took many more and ultimately flew over the South Pole.

In 1927, Byrd announced his intention to take a non-stop flight over the Atlantic Ocean to the Orteig Prize. Once again, he chose Floyd Bennett as his pilot. During their practice takeoff, the plane crashed injuring both Byrd and Bennett. While they took time to recover from their injuries, Charles Lindberg won the prize. This made Byrd change his pilot to Bernt Balchen along with two other companions as mentioned earlier. January 21, 1927, the three made it to Paris. Landing was not an option because of the clouds and they crash-landed near a beach on the coast of Brittany. All four guys survived this tragedy and for this successful flight, France made Byrd a Commandant of the French Foreign Legion. With his new position, Byrd decided to go on a voyage to Antarctica.

With his fame from his prior expeditions and his high rankings, Byrd received funding for his voyage that resulted in his 19 hour flight over the South Pole and back. Once Byrd was able to reach Antarctica they set up the base they named “Little America”. Flights were made from this base and on November 29, 1929, Byrd and three others made the first flight over the South Pole. For this achievement, Byrd was promoted to rear admiral. In the following years, Byrd spent many more winters doing polar research until his death in 1957. Byrd and his three companions were the first to make a 19 hour flight to the South Pole from their base in Antarctica.

All the expeditions Byrd completed before the South Pole were just practices for his real test to be the first to fly over the South Pole. 84 years later, Black Friday and the first flight over the South Pole share the same date. While others celebrate the holiday by shopping, I will know this day has a different anniversary.

- Dot L., Ruben P., and Nate G.

October 15, 1968 - First Live Telecast from Space

The Apollo 7 was the seventh space mission that NASA launched, attempting to reach their goal publicly announced by John F. Kennedy: to have the first man on the moon be an American. There was a competition between arguably the two most technological dominant nations at the time, being Russia (Soviet Union) and America. When Kennedy was president, one of his primary goals for the country was to make advancements in space (1961). Russia had beaten the U.S with the first man in space, in 1961. (“Apollo 7 (AS-205).”) The Soviet Union also got the first spacecraft to orbit the Earth, in 1957. The Apollo 7 was the first mission set to broadcast live to the audience in America. The mission launched October 11, 1968

Americans were very interested in the Apollo 7 mission for a few reasons. First of all. the fire that killed the three pilots on the Apollo 1 before it made it to space gained tons of public attention. Secondly, the patriotic Americans wanted to see their country beat Russia in the “man to the moon” race. And thirdly, Americans wanted to see if space was really what they heard it was. In 1968, they rarely saw pictures or videos like we would see nowadays, they had only heard rumors of space, with zero gravity and being extremely cold as well as never seeing it firsthand until this mission. It was essentially an “unknown” for all humans, if you never studied space or worked for NASA.

America’s launching of the Apollo 7 was the first ever three man mission to space. The three Americans were Donn Eisele, Walter Cunningham, and Walter Schirra Jr., the captain. When they launched on October 11th, 1968 there were a few planned broadcasts but they were delayed by Schirra, because the three man crew was sick. (“Apollo 7 (AS-205).”) The crew ended up orbiting the Earth 163 times in just 10 days, 20 hours, and four days into the mission they decided to make their broadcast, with all of America waiting. On October 15th, 1968, the first ever live television broadcast from space aired, and American viewers were intrigued. For the first time, viewers saw the men floating in their spacecraft with no gravity affecting their movements; they were enjoying hot food, too. Captain Schirra started the broadcast with “Hello from the lovely Apollo Room high atop everything.”(“Apollo 7 (23) The Walt, Wally, and Don Show.”) It ended up being one of the highest watched programs in television history. Despite the incredible amount of popularity, only NASA knew that the Apollo 7 was just a test run for the Apollo 8, for the first craft to land on the moon.

The event was actually more significant for the future than the current time. It led to an opening for live broadcasts to be made from space on every manned mission, and even non-manned missions. It gave NASA and America some confidence in advancing the space race; just two months later the Apollo 8 landed on the moon, before the Russians, where another live broadcast was made. It then led to the Apollo 11 where the first man walked on the moon, which was also broadcasted for the world to see. In our opinion, the Apollo 7 was significant in establishing what was to come of space exploration for the rest of the 1960s and gave all Americans a first-hand look at what was really out there beyond what they had heard.

- Ryan R. and Percell D.





“Apollo 7 (AS-205).” Airandspace.si.edu, last modified January 30, 2006. http://airandspace.si.edu/explore-and-learn/topics/apollo/as07/a07.htm


“Apollo 7 (23) The Walt, Wally, and Don Show.” NASA.gov, last modified April 5, 2002. http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/history/apollo/apollo-7/apollo-7.htm

September 17, 1911 - Calbraith Rodgers began the first successfully completed transcontinental flight across the United States

The plane Rodgers flew on his transcontinental flight

On September 17, 1911, pilot Calbraith Rodgers began the first transcontinental flight across the United States. He only took a 90-minute flying instruction class before he flew this plane.[i] When he flew the plane, he was only 32 years old. Cal Rodgers only started to learn how to fly an airplane in June of 1911 at Wright School at Simms Station, Dayton, Ohio. He was a great motorcycle and an automobile racer all before becoming a pilot. Rodgers became deaf in one ear after a childhood accident. Although he couldn’t hear well, he was still able to fly a plane. Rodgers didn’t live too long after his flight made history. Rodgers was only flying airplanes for eight years. In April of 1912, he took flight in Long Beach, Long Island, New York and he encountered a bird, which caused him to crash into the water. When he crashed into the water he broke his neck causing his death. Rodgers was only 33 years old when he passed away.[ii]

Rodgers took off from New York City to start his first flight across the United States on September 17, 1911. A newspaper editor named William Randolph Hearst offered Rodgers a $50,000 prize by finishing the trip in less than 30 days.[iii] As Rodger flies the plane, he snagged a tree and crashed to the ground. He crashed the plane over 15 times.[iv] Rodgers made multiple visits to various hospitals around the United States because he was injured from crashing the plane. He finally reached his destination in Pasadena, California.[v] When he arrived on the West coast, he had to repair his plane so many times so he was able continue his journey. Rodgers was very determined to finish his journey around the United States.

This event in history was very important because it was the first transcontinental flight. Rodgers hoped to win the $50,000. Because he crashed his plane so many times, he lost out on the prize. Even though he didn’t win the prize, he still persevered to make history. According to people Rodger’s trip from coast to coast is one of the most memorable airplane journeys ever taken in history. [vi]

- Tiffany C. and Kara R. G.




[i] "Sept. 17, 1911: First Transcontinental Flight Takes Weeks." Wired.com. 17 Sept. 2009. Conde Nast Digital. 10 Sept. 2013 <http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2009/09/0917transcontinental-flight/>.

[ii] "Sept. 17, 1911: First Transcontinental Flight Takes Weeks." Wired.com. 17 Sept. 2009. Conde Nast Digital. 10 Sept. 2013 <http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2009/09/0917transcontinental-flight/>.

[iii] "Sept. 17, 1911: First Transcontinental Flight Takes Weeks." Wired.com. 17 Sept. 2009. Conde Nast Digital. 10 Sept. 2013 <http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2009/09/0917transcontinental-flight/>.

[iv] "First Transcontinental Flight." First Transcontinental Flight. 10 Sept. 2013 <http://www.firstflightcentennial.org/first-transcontinental-flight/>.

[v] "Sept. 17, 1911: First Transcontinental Flight Takes Weeks." Wired.com. 17 Sept. 2009. Conde Nast Digital. 10 Sept. 2013 <http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2009/09/0917transcontinental-flight/>.

[vi] "First Transcontinental Flight." First Transcontinental Flight. 10 Sept. 2013 <http://www.firstflightcentennial.org/first-transcontinental-flight/>.