Today in history. 1861 – The first major engagement of the main armies in the Civil War takes place along a muddy creek known as “Bull Run.” 1921 – Gen. Billy Mitchell flew off with a payload of makeshift aerial bombs and sank the former German battle ship Ostfriesland off Hampton Roads, Virginia; the 1st time a battleship was ever sunk by an airplane. 1930 – The US Veterans Administration is formed. 1961 – Capt. Virgil “Gus” Grissom became the second American to rocket into a suborbital pattern around the Earth, flying on the Mercury 4 Liberty Bell 7. The Mercury capsule sank in the Atlantic, 302 miles from Cape Canaveral and Grissom was rescued by helicopter. The space capsule was recovered in 1999.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 22:10:46 +0000
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