2011 – The Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental, the passenger version of the new 747-8 airliner, makes its first test flight.
2009 – Emirates Flight 407, an Airbus A340-500 (A6-ERG) fails to rotate properly while taking off from Melbourne, Australia, scraping its tail against the ground and striking several lights and an antenna, while barely missing a large fence and a brick building. The
2003 – The invasion of Iraq by the US and its allies formally begins with an aerial bombardment of Baghdad and the movement of ground troops across the border.
1937 – Amelia Earhart’s Lockheed Electra blows a tire during takeoff from Honolulu, abruptly ending her first round-the-world flight attempt. Earhart’s second attempt would begin a few months later, and ultimately end in her disappearance.
1932 – German airship Graf Zeppelin begins flights between Germany and Brazil.
1922 – The USS Langley is commissioned at Norfolk, Virginia, as the US Navy’s first aircraft carrier.
1920 – Two South African pilots complete the first flight from England to South Africa in four days, 13 hours, 30 minutes.
