Aviation Records

October 14, 2009

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Profile America — Wednesday, October 14th. Speed was the name of the game on this date in the past with the setting of two milestone aviation records. On this date in 1922, Lieutenant Lester Maitland flew a Curtiss Pursuit plane just over 216 miles-an-hour — the first to fly faster than 200. And on this date in 1947, Air Force Major Chuck Yeager flew the Bell X-1 faster than the speed of sound for the first time, reaching just over 750 miles-an-hour. Today, the X-1 is one of the premier exhibits at the National Air and Space Museum on the mall at Washington, D.C., one of the main attractions of the city’s annual draw of 1.2 million overseas visitors each year. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at <www.census.gov>.

Sources: Kane's Famous First Facts, 1448 & 1468
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 1221
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009edition.html