August Anniversaries
Momentous or Merely Memorable
- By Alison McLean
- Smithsonian magazine, August 2009, Subscribe
25 Years Ago
Marathon Woman
American Joan Benoit, 27, bests the competition and the Los Angeles smog to capture the gold in the first women's Olympic marathon, August 5, 1984. By mile three, Benoit, who had recently had knee surgery, is ahead of the 49 other runners; she medals with a time of 2 hours 24 minutes 52 seconds. "I did not want to take the lead," she says later, "but I figured if no one was coming with me, I might as well go." In 2008, her time of 2:49:08 at the Olympic trials sets a record for the 50+ age group.
50 Years Ago
Aloha, Hawaii
Sixty-one years after Hawaii's annexation by the United States, President Eisenhower proclaims it the 50th state, August 21, 1959. For the second time in a year—Alaska joined the Union in January—Ike unfurls a new national flag, which flies officially on July 4, 1960. Hawaii quickly sends representation, including Hiram Fong, the first Asian-American senator, and Daniel Inouye, the first Japanese-American congressman, to Capitol Hill.
70 Years Ago
There's No Place Like Oz
MGM's The Wizard of Oz premières in Wisconsin, California and New York City in August 1939. Critics rank the Technicolor musical version of L. Frank Baum's 1900 book with Disney's Snow White, and it grosses $3 million—but it is the nearly annual television airings from 1956 on that make Oz one of the world's most watched movies.
70 Years Ago
Look Ma, No Propellers
Although British aviation engineer Frank Whittle had tested a working jet engine in 1937, it is Germany's Hans von Ohain who puts the first jet plane—the Heinkel He 178—in the air, on August 27, 1939. In a demonstration, pilot Erich Warsitz flies the jet a few times around Marienehe airfield. "I did say a prayer asking that the turbine blades didn't fall off," von Ohain recalls later. Air marshal Hermann Goering is uninterested, and jets don't join the Luftwaffe until 1944. The He 178 prototype, kept in a museum, is destroyed by British bombs in 1943.
100 Years Ago
Uncommon Cents
In August 1909, one hundred years after his birth, Abraham Lincoln goes into circulation—on the penny. It is the first time a portrait appears on a regular issue U.S. coin. Designer Victor David Brenner's initials, which appear on the back, are later removed, making the 484,000 initialed 1909 pennies minted in San Francisco into collector's items that have sold for thousands of dollars. Today, despite repeated congressional attempts to abolish it, the penny—which is only 2.5 percent copper—survives.
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Comments (2)
I had great memories in the 80's talking with Mr. Kurt Ziegler,assistant to Dr.Von Ohain about his experiences at Heinkel aircraft.He told me the original test pilots would have 2 pairs of leather flight pants on and after a few minutes of flight the heat from the transmission would still make them extremely uncomfortable on their backsides.Kurt also helped in the design of the centrifugal governor on the early jet engine.Dr. von Ohain told Kurt once"Kurt,I had the theory,you helped me put it into practice."He invited Kurt to take his bows with him at the anniversary of the jet in Stuggart Germany i believe.Dr.Von Ohain went on to work with the U.S.Navy in Ohio after the war. Kurt Ziegler went on to be chief engineer at Johnson Motors in Waukegan Illinois,a pioneer manufacturer of outboard motors.These men were briliant, ahead of their time engineers.Everytime i see a jet fly overhead i think of Kurt and his boss, Dr.Von Ohain.We owe them much.
Posted by Thomas rendall on August 5,2010 | 09:23 PM
Readers interested in learning more about the first jet flight might like to read Margaret Conner's biography of von Ohain, "In Search of Elegance." She and I and von Ohain's widow Hanni visited Rostock and Marienehe in 1999 for the 60th anniversary celebration. Nothing remains of the Heinkel factory; the Russians carried it off. An office parkoccupies the former airfield and only a small stone marks the site of the first flight. Test pilot Warsitz's comment after the flight: "I wasn't too worried about the new type of engine. What really scared me was flying an unmarked plane over the nearby Luftwaffe base."
Posted by Kervyn Mach on August 13,2009 | 09:19 AM