Today in News History

On July 1, several notable moments in the history of News stand out. In 1863, John F. Reynolds, American general (born 1820) passed away. In 1903, Start of first Tour de France bicycle race. In 1915, Leutnant Kurt Wintgens of the then-named German Deutsches Heer's Fliegertruppe army air service achieves the first known aerial victory with a synchronized machine-gun armed fighter plane, the Fokker M.5K/MG Eindecker. In 1931, United Airlines begins service (as Boeing Air Transport). In 1931, Wiley Post and Harold Gatty become the first people to circumnavigate the globe in a single-engined monoplane aircraft. In 1947, The Philippine Air Force is established. In 1957, The International Geophysical Year begins. In 1983, A North Korean Ilyushin Il-62M jet en route to Conakry Airport in Guinea crashes into the Fouta Djallon mountains in Guinea-Bissau, killing all 23 people on board. In 1997, Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on STS-94, a re-flight of the prematurely-ended STS-83 mission with the same crew. In 2002, Bashkirian Airlines Flight 2937, a Tupolev Tu-154, and DHL Flight 611, a Boeing 757, collide in mid-air over Überlingen, southern Germany, killing all 71 on board both planes. Together, these milestones provide historical context for today's news news and ongoing narratives.