This day in history - May 15

[seamusTX]

1672 - Massachusetts enacted the first copyright law in the future U.S.

1718 - James Puckle of London patented the first machine gun, a rifle with a revolving cylinder. It did not achieve commercial success.

http://inventors.about.com/od/militaryh ... rearms.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

1918 - Air Mail service began between several U.S. cities.

http://www.antiqueairfield.com/features/us_airmail.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Some of us are old enough to remember when receiving an Air Mail letter was a big deal, and the stamps cost a nice chunk of change.

1930 - Ellen Church, the first airline stewardess, went on duty aboard a Boeing Air Transport flight. She was a registered nurse and a licensed pilot. Her employer thought that having nurses on board would alleviate the fear of flying. All the early stewardesses were nurses.

http://www.wired.com/science/discoverie ... ntech_0515" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

1948 - Arab forces attacked the newly-independent Israel.

1963 - L. Gordon Cooper was launched into space aboard Faith 7, the last Project Mercury flight.

1972 - Alabama Gov. George Wallace was shot and permanently disabled by a would-be assassin while campaigning for the presidency.

- Jim

[bryang]

Well, today was a very busy day in history and an important one at that.

I really enjoyed the article about James Puckle and the first machine gun...amazing, ...1718!

The article on the first Air Mail service was very interesting, also. I am afraid that I do remember the first Air Mail letter that I saw and it was a really big deal. We just didn't see many of those fancy letters out in West Texas, at least the common folks didn't, that is.

Thanks, Jim, for another great day in history. It is always a good day when you can learn something new.

-geo

[seamusTX]

Thank you.

I was not aware of Puckle's machine gun until I did the research for this article. Often some genius invented something long before the state of technology made it practical. For instance, Leonardo da Vinci imagined the submarine and military tank centuries before anyone built one.

It's curious how a lot of loosely related events occurred on the same day, many years apart.

Then you have days like today, when the only noteworthy event was Congress authorizing the minting of the nickel (1866).

- Jim

[TDDude]

Often some genius invented something long before the state of technology made it practical. For instance, Leonardo da Vinci imagined the submarine and military tank centuries before anyone built one.
- Jim

I have an ancestor that designed, built, and flew an airplane about 40-50 years before the Wright brothers. It was powered with big clock springs.

It flew on his ranch near Luckenbach. Unfortunately, the springs ran out before he could wind them up while flying so he did crash but it did fly.

I'm sure there are countless stories like this of people who were never recognized.

[seamusTX]

A lot of people got planes to fly before the Wright brothers, but the Wright brothers were the first to land successfully more than once.

- Jim