5. Heavier than Air Flight
July 25, 1909
This historic first heavier than air flight across the English Channel by French aviator Louis Bleriot was funded by a grateful family after Bleriot’s wife saved their child from falling to his death. They loaned the almost bankrupt Blériot 25,000 francs which helped him perfect his Blériot XI airplane. The day he took off from Les Barraques, France to cross the channel, Blériot was on crutches because of a recent accident. Twenty minutes into his flight he spotted Margaret’s Bay which told him he was off course. After adjusting his course he saw his friend waving the French Flag which marked his landing spot in Dover. After a very rough landing that collapsed the landing gear, the Frenchman became an instant celebrity and won a thousand-pound prize offered by a London newspaper. The photograph above shows Blériot with reporters after his landing. You can see some great old film footage of Blériot’s take off from France here SaveFrom.net.
100 Years Later
Other English Channel flight accomplishments since 1909 include: first human-powered aircraft in 1979 and just late last year Swiss pilot and inventor Yves Rossy (shown above) was the first to make it across by jetpack crossing in just 10 minutes at speeds of 100 mph. On July 25 2009, to celebrate one hundred years after Blériot’s famous flight, it was reenacted by another Frenchman, Edmond Salis, in his restored Blériot XI. About 500 people, some in period costumes, were on hand in Calais to see Salis take off. He flew over the English Channel in 40 minutes (slightly longer than Blériot) and landed in the same location near Dover Castle. You can see a great photo of Salis’ reenacted flight here and what it might have looked like (minus the houses and cars) to Blériot as he flew near Dover Castle.
4. Indianapolis Motor Speedway Opens
August 14, 1909
The first motor race at Indy was actually with motorcycles rather than automobiles. It consisted of 7 motorcycle races, sanctioned by the Federation of American Motorcyclists. The first of the automobile races took place August 19-21, 1909, and consisted of 16 races sanctioned by the American Automobile Association. The photo above shows the start of the1909 Wheeler-Schebler Trophy 300-mile Race which featured 19 of the world’s most powerful cars. The race had to be ended after 235 miles due to deteriorating track conditions. On that first day of car racing, William Baourque and his mechanic Harry Holcomb became the first to die at the speedway from injuries after a crash. Later the speedway was paved with 3.2 million bricks to improve the track. The first 500 mile race was held on Memorial Day, May 30, 1911.
100 Years later
Today Indianapolis Motor Speedway has permanent seating capacity for more than 257,000 people and infield seating that raises capacity to an approximate 400,000. It is the largest and highest-capacity sporting facility in the world. The Speedway’s two and a half mile oval track dimensions have remained essentially unchanged since 1909. Over the last 100 years, average speeds have gone from around 70 miles per hour to over 160 miles per hour. In 2007, the Speedway announced that it would host a round of Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing. This marked the first motorcycle racing event at the facility since the speedway opened in 1909. You can see what motorcycles looked like at that recent event at Indy compared to what they looked like 100 years ago here.
3. First Paris Air Show
September 25, 1909
The first air show in Paris was held at the Grand Palais. Visitors came to admire the early flying machines and also buy them. “A Wright aircraft cost 30,000 francs, a Farman biplane cost 23,000 and a Blériot like the one that just flew across the English Channel cost just 10,000. A magazine writer described the first Paris Air Show this way: “Airborne mechanical locomotion, with its mysterious problems and future revolutions, could not fail to arouse the enthusiasm of the crowd. Never have so many thronged to the Grand Palais; police officers had to form a cordon to restrain the sea of visitors around these pieces of wood and canvas with which Wright had played at being a bird”.
100 Years Later
The Paris Air Show is now one of the most prestigious in the world. Major international manufacturers as well as the military forces of several countries attend the Show. In 1973 the show suffered its worst accident when a Soviet Tupolev Tu-144 crashed killing a crew of six plus eight people on the ground. In June 2009, the Air Show celebrated its 100th anniversary with flight demonstrations from early 20th century aircraft. One of the most popular planes on display was the Bleriot XI (see number 6) which was also the star of the show at the first air show in 1909. A memorial service was also held at centennial air show for the victims of Air France Flight 447 that claimed the life of all 216 passengers and 12 crew members earlier in the month.
2. The Cherry Mine Disaster
November 13, 1909
The Cherry, Illinois mine disaster is one of the worst accidents in American industrial history. The tragedy occurred after the electrical system went down and workers had to use makeshift torches. As they were lowering a car full of hay to feed the mules stabled underground, a torch ignited the hay and filled the mine with smoke. Of the 490 men and boys in the mine at the time, 259 died from the fire or the poisonous gases it produced and 12 died while trying to rescue their friends. Twenty one miners were trapped but survived by drinking water from a pool of water leaking from a coal seam. They were rescued eight days later. It took approximately six months to remove all the bodies from the mine while funerals were held almost daily for the lost miners.
100 Years Later
On November 14 2009, Cherry, Illinois dedicated a monument (shown above) that lists the names of the 259 workers killed a century ago. Other items shown at the dedication included mining artifacts and a cross-section model of the mine. This disaster forced a crackdown on lax child-labor laws. Also introduced were stronger mine safety regulations which eventually paved the way for modern-day workmen’s compensation laws and later the rise of the United Mine Workers Union. To remember the lives lost, The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, Illinois opened a major exhibit on November 1, 2009 called “The Flames Caught Us”. The exhibit runs through March 31, 2010. You can watch a short film that is shown at the exhibit here SaveFrom.net.
1. Tallest Building in the World
November, 1909
In 1907 the president of Metropolitan Life Insurance hired architect Napoleon LeBrun and Sons to design a marble office tower that would rival all other large skyscrapers in Manhattan. When the Metropolitan Life Tower was completed in 1909 it became the tallest building in the world. The building has 50 stories and is700 feet (213 m) high. It is modeled after one of the best known buildings in history, The Campanile in Venice, Italy. There are four clocks, one on each side of the tower. Each clock is 26.5 feet (8 m) in diameter with each number measuring four feet (1.2 m) tall. The minute hands on the clock weigh half a ton each. The Met Life building remained the tallest in the world until 1913 when it was surpassed by the Woolworth Building also in New York City which is 57 stories and 792 ft high.
100 years later
On October 1st 2009 it was announced that the exterior of the Burj Dubai was completed. It is the tallest man-made structure ever built at 2,684 ft (818 m) and has 160 floors. During construction its final height was kept a secret due to competition. The building is located on Sheikh Zayed Road near Dubai’s main business district. An Armani Hotel will occupy the lower 37 floors and floors 45 through 108 will have 700 private apartments. Corporate offices and suites will fill most of the remaining floors. The total budget for the Burj Dubai project was about 4.1 billion US. The tower has the world’s fastest elevators at speeds of 40 mph (64km/h). During high winds the tower sways a total of 4.9 ft (1.5 m) at its tallest point. If economic conditions permit, it is expected to be ready for occupancy on January 4th 2010.
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