Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
Nonstop flights took place between mainland China and Taiwan. These were the first such flights between the nations since 1949 when Communists gained control of the mainland and established the People’s Republic of China (PRC) while the government of the Republic of China retreated to Taiwan. The first flights to take to the skies for... Continue Reading →
A train station was opened in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to provide direct service to General Mitchell International Airport in that metropolitan area. The groundbreaking for the Milwaukee Airport Railroad Station had taken place during the summer of 2004. Those cutting the ceremonial ribbon for the formal debut of the facility on January 18, 2005, were Wisconsin... Continue Reading →
Brazilian aviation pioneer Ada Rogato died in São Paulo at the age of 66. Rogato had been born in that Brazilian city in 1920. She was the daughter of immigrants from Italy. Rogato developed a strong interest in flying at an early age and, with money that she made through such jobs as selling embroideries... Continue Reading →
Retired U.S. Air Force Brigadier General José M. Portela, who was born in San Juan in 1949, has established several noteworthy aviation records. He was the first native of Puerto Rico to become a brigadier general in the U.S. Air Force Reserve. In 1972, he became the youngest person to serve as commander of a... Continue Reading →
Aviation pioneer Elwood Richard Quesada was born in Washington, D.C., in 1904 to a Spanish father and Irish-American mother. Quesada’s longtime aviation career began in 1924 when he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps as a flying cadet. The subsequent highlights of his career included being promoted to lieutenant general in the U.S. Air... Continue Reading →
In 1991, Lieutenant Commander Marilyn Melendez Dykman became the first Hispanic-American female aviator in the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG). Her achievement helped pave the way for similar opportunities for female cadets of all races and ethnicities at the USCG. For information about Marilyn Melendez Dykman and other Hispanic-American pioneers in the USCG, please check out... Continue Reading →
Aviation trailblazer Aida de Acosta (1881-1962) was born in Long Beach, New Jersey. She was the daughter of Ricardo de Acosta, a steamship company executive of Cuban descent. In June 1903 Acosta became the first woman to fly a motorized aircraft on her own. While she was visiting Paris, renowned Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont taught... Continue Reading →
Aviation pioneer Olga E. Custodio was born in San Juan in 1953. She was admitted into the U.S. Air Force (USAF) Officer Candidate School and then accepted as a candidate for training as a USAF pilot. Custodio subsequently entered the Flight Screening Pilot Officer Training School in 1980. After completion of this flight screening, Custodio... Continue Reading →
Airline transport pilot and certified flight instructor Wang Zheng (also known as Julie Wang) became the first Asian woman to circumnavigate the Earth in an airplane, and the first Chinese person to fly solo around the world, when she returned to the Texas town of Addison in the Dallas area 33 days after starting her... Continue Reading →
Aviation pioneer, Gustave Whitehead, may or may not have flown a powered aircraft two years before the Wright Brothers. Whitehead (or Weisskopf in his native German) emigrated to the US in the late 1800s, after a troubled childhood in Bavaria. He was trained as a mechanic and then forcibly ganged onto a ship in Hamburg... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 