1989: UTA flight 772, McDonnell Douglas DC-10 aircraft (registered N54629), crashes in the Sahara Desert in Niger after a bomb explodes while enroute to Paris, killing all 170 on board. The bomb would eventually be blamed on Libyan terrorists.
1988: Israel launches its first satellite, for secret military reconnaissance.
1976: Two Iranian Air Force F-4 Phantom jets are dispatched to investigate a UFO over Tehran. Both planes lose all instrumentation and communication capabilities before turning away from the bright light. The cause is never discovered.
1976: A Turkish Airlines Boeing 727 (registered TC-JBH) crashes into a mountain while on apprach to Antalya, Turkey. It was later learned that the pilots had been referencing the approach charts for a different airport.
1962: The Aero Spacelines Pregnant Guppy makes its maiden flight.
1921: The first airline in Latin America begins service: SCADTA launches flights between Barranquilla and Girandot using float-equipped Junkers F.13s.
1907: The first piloted helicopter flight takes place, reaching an impressive altitude of two feet above Douai, France while being steadied by several men.
1902: The Wright Brothers take their third glider on its first test flight.
1783: In a demonstration for King Louis XVI, a sheep, duck, and rooster fly up to 1,700 feet in a hot air balloon and return to the ground safely.