1966 – A Morane-Saulnier MS.760 Paris jet carrying controversial Italian government administrator Enrico Mattei crashes during a flight from Catania to Milan. While the crash occurs during a storm and authorities rule it an accident, a number of mysterious circumstances surround the crash to this day.
1962 – US Air Force pilot Major Rudolf Anderson becomes the only casualty of the Cuban Missile Crisis when his U-2 spy plane is shot down over Cuba by a Soviet-built SA-2 Guideline surface-to-air missile.
1961 – NASA launches the first Saturn rocket (Saturn I). A test flight, only the first stage of the rocket is set to ignite. At 9:06 a.m. (CST) on October 27, 1961, the 162-foot tall Saturn I rocket lifted off its Cape Canaveral launch pad. During the eight-minute flight the rocket reached a peak velocity of 3,607 miles an hour and an altitude of 84.813 miles, before impacting 214.727 miles out into the Atlantic Ocean.
1960 – The original flag airline of the west African nation of Mali is formed, Air Mali.
1904 – The New York City Subway opens, about 10 months after the Wright Brothers’ first flight. Over 100 years later, the subway still does not travel directly to any airports.
