1925 - The airship Pilgrim made its first flight. It was the first with an enclosed cabin.
1935 - The French passenger liner Normandie set an Atlantic crossing record of a little more than four days.
It was more or less the last gasp of this elegant mode of travel. Commercial transatlantic flights had already begun, and WW II soon put a stop to all such civilian travel. Normandie was commandeered as a troop ship during the war, and sank in 1942.
Now you can cross the Atlantic in seven hours with someone's elbow in your face, and a line at the bathroom.
1948 - The Hale telescope at Mount Palomar was dedicated.
1965 - Edward White took the first American space walk, on the Gemini 4 mission.
- Jim