North Carolina

Daily Pic (Wright Brothers, Orville & Wilbur)

Library of Congress

We have liftoff!

The Wright brothers documented the first sustained flight in a powered, controlled aircraft on this day in 1903. That historic achievement was the result of single-minded perseverance, study, and experimentation. The brothers had spent more than a dozen years designing, engineering, constructing, and tweaking various test craft, including groundbreaking work done on the glider shown here. Orville Wright snapped this photo of the plane as it’s piloted by his brother Wilbur, gliding down the slope of Big Kill Devil Hill in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in October 1902.

The brothers performed between 700 and 1,000 glider test flights on that 1902 trip to Kitty Hawk, making innumerable adjustments to improve lift, stability, and turning control. When the Wrights returned to their home state of Ohio, they immediately began construction of their first engine-powered airplane. Confident in the design and construction of the Wright Flyer, the brothers returned to the dunes of Kill Devil Hills in Kitty Hawk, where on December 17, 1903, Orville Wright piloted the plane for 120 feet, at an altitude of 10 feet, at less than 7 miles per hour. Three subsequent flights that day took them a little farther each time, straight into the history books.

Daily Pic 12/17/17

© Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters

A carnival ride at a Christmas market in Berlin, Germany



Today in History 11/22 (Margaret Thatcher)

British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher leaves her 10 Downing Street residence in London, November 22, 1990 for Buckingham Palace to inform Queen Elizabeth II of her decision to resign (© Gillian Allen/AP)(1990) Margaret Thatcher resigns as prime minister of Britain
Having served 11 years as prime minister, Margaret Thatcher quits after losing the support of her cabinet in a run-off election for the leadership of the Conservative Party. The ‘Iron Lady,’ so nicknamed for her tough demeanor, was Britain’s first female prime minister.
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS, FRIC was a British stateswoman who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century and the first woman to have been appointed. A Soviet journalist dubbed her the “Iron Lady”, a nickname that became associated with her uncompromising politics and leadership style. As Prime Minister, she implemented policies that have come to be known as Thatcherism.
Lived: Oct 13, 1925 – Apr 08, 2013 (age 87)
Height: 5′ 5″ (1.66 m)
Spouse: Denis Thatcher (m. 1951 – 2003)
Children: Mark Thatcher (Son) · Carol Thatcher (Daughter)
Related movies: The Iron Lady
Party: Conservative Party
Highlights
  • 1951: During the campaigns, she was supported by her parents and by Denis Thatcher, whom she married in December 1951.

  • 1979: Thatcher became Prime Minister on 4 May 1979.

  • 1989: Thatcher was challenged for the leadership of the Conservative Party by the little-known backbench MP Sir Anthony Meyer in the 1989 leadership election.

  • 1990: On 1 November 1990, Geoffrey Howe, the last remaining member of Thatcher’s original 1979 cabinet, resigned from his position as Deputy Prime Minister over her refusal to agree to a timetable for Britain to join the European Exchange Rate Mechanism.

  • 2005: Upon leaving the House of Commons, Thatcher became the first former Prime Minister to set up a foundation; the British wing of the Margaret Thatcher Foundation was dissolved in 2005 because of financial difficulties.

  • 2013: In 2013, she died of another stroke in London, at the age of 87.

Thatcher reviews troops
Thatcher reviews Royal Bermuda Regiment troops, 1990
wiki/Margaret_Thatcher
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(1990) Margaret Thatcher resigns as prime minister of Britain.
Also on this day,

1718 | Notorious English pirate dies in battle as Blackbeard is killed
The fearsome English pirate known as Blackbeard is killed in a fight with a small naval force off the coast of the North Carolina colony. Blackbeard, whose real name may have been Edward Teach, sailed a 40-gun warship and built a notorious reputation for plunder. Rumors of his buried treasure will persist for centuries.
1945 | Rams receiver sets a record on Thanksgiving
Cleveland Rams receiver Jim Benton catches 10 passes for 303 yards in the team’s 28-21 victory over the Detroit Lions, setting an NFL single-game record that would stand for 40 years. Benton and the Rams would move to Los Angeles the following year.
1963 | JFK assassinated as president John F. Kennedy shot and killed in Dallas
A sniper kills John F. Kennedy, the 35th US president, as his motorcade wends through Dallas, Texas. Kennedy’s wife, Jacqueline, and the Texas governor are traveling with him. Lee Harvey Oswald will soon be arrested for the shooting, but will be shot and killed himself shortly thereafter.
1986 | Mike Tyson is boxing’s youngest heavyweight champ
At just 20 years old, Mike Tyson knocks out Trevor Berbick to win his first heavyweight title fight. Tyson will go on to be one of the most successful boxers in history, but his career will be marred by bankruptcy, prison stints, and biting boxer Evander Holyfield’s ear.

Today in History 11/22/17

President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy smile at the crowds lining their motorcade route in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963 (© Corbis)(1963) President John F. Kennedy shot and killed in Dallas
A sniper kills John F. Kennedy, the 35th US president, as his motorcade wends through Dallas, Texas. Kennedy's wife, Jacqueline, and the Texas governor are traveling with him. Lee Harvey Oswald will soon be arrested for the shooting, but will be shot and killed himself shortly thereafter.
John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, was assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963 at 12:30 p.m. in Dallas, Texas while riding in a presidential motorcade in Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was riding with his wife Jacqueline, Texas Governor John Connally, and Connally's wife, Nellie, and was fatally shot by former U.S. Marine Lee Harvey Oswald. A ten-month investigation by the Warren Commission from November 1963 to September 1964 concluded that Oswald acted alone in shooting Kennedy, and that Jack Ruby also acted alone when he killed Oswald before he could stand trial. Kennedy's death marked the fourth and most recent assassination of an American President. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson automatically became President upon Kennedy's death.
Date: Nov 22, 1963

JFK limousine
Picture of President Kennedy in the limousine in Dallas, Texas, on Main Street, minutes before the assassination. Also in the presidential limousine are Jackie Kennedy, Texas Governor John Connally, and his wife, Nellie.
wiki/Assassination_of_John_F._Kennedy
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