1983: NASA exploration spacecraft Pioneer 10 flies past the orbit of Pluto.
1972: German pilot Hans Werner-Grosse sets a new sailplane flight distance record of 908 miles (1,460 km) in a Schleicher ASW 12.
Three U.S. Air Force North American F-86F Sabres, led by Tuskegee airman Col. Ben O. Davis, fly over Korea in 1953.
1948: A North American F-86 Sabre becomes the first jet-powered aircraft to break the sound barrier.
1922: The Stout ST-1, the first all-metal airplane built for the U.S. Navy, makes its first flight, piloted by aviation pioneer Eddie Stinson.
1918: Belgian World War I fighter ace Willy Coppens records his first kill.
1868: John Bevins Moisant, designer, builder and pilot of the first aluminum airplane, is born in Kanakee, Illinois.
