Smoky: the Little Dog that Could Wynne and Smoky (William A. Wynne via National Geographic) Corporal Bill Wynne first met Smoky in the beginning of 1944 when he was stationed with the U.S. Army Air Corps in Nadzab, New Guinea. She was a small thing—a little Yorkshire Terrier weighing only 4 pounds and standing [...]
Sky's the limit for a comeback You might have noticed that thick, white letters don't really dominate the sky anymore. Have you seen any "Marry me" or "I love U" notes lately? It certainly isn’t as common as it used to be. What we might now think of as old-fashioned or antique or even low-tech, [...]
It's official: the 2016 Summer Olympics are over in Rio. America took away the most medals with a total of 121 (46 gold). Britain followed with a total of 67 medals (27 gold), and China a respectable third with 70 total medals (26 gold). A lot has happened over the past two weeks, but amid [...]
August 17, 1927 marks the end of the Dole Derby--an ill-fated air race Charles Lindbergh’s Orteig Prize-winning, nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic inspired a number of aviators and aviation-enthusiasts to fly their way into history (such as Tailwind’s journey aboard the American Nurse). Lindbergh’s fame particularly inspired Hawaii pineapple magnate James D. Dole to [...]
Humans have always been rather obsessed with the notion of flight, well before the development of modern airplanes. In fact, many early civilizations bore myths and legends of mankind and gods alike taking flight. Perhaps the most well-known and referenced myth regarding man and flight is the Greek story of Daedalus and Icarus: Daedalus, an inventor, fashioned a [...]
Supersonic commercial transport existed for 30 years--what happened? The 1950s was a time of communism, capitalism, polypropylene, and polio vaccines--not to mention the maturity and growth of television sets, solar-powered wrist watches, and the beginnings of the Concorde project. By the early 1950s, Arnold Hall (director of the Royal Aircraft Establishment) asked Morien Morgan (a [...]
The man who wore many hats (although it's possible it was just a snake that swallowed an elephant) While the name Antoine de Saint-Exupéry might not resonate with you right away, there’s a good chance that you’re more familiar with him—or his work—than you might think. Ever hear of The Little Prince (or Le Petit [...]
Ferdinand Adolph Heinrich August Graf von Zeppelin With a name like that, you just know he was meant to do great things. We’ve talked about rigid airships before (remember the giant Airlander 10?) and how sometimes you need to look back when looking to the future. On this day (May 26) in 1909, the rigid [...]
