This Week in Outdoor History: The First Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carrier

Filed in archive Aviation History on September 27, 2007

This week in outdoor history features the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and the first round-the-world flight.

September 14, 1959: The Soviet space probe Luna 2 became the first man-made object to reach the Moon when it crashed onto the lunar surface.

September 17, 1908: Lt. Thomas Selfridge, a passenger in a plane piloted by Orville Wright, became the first airplane fatality when the craft crashed.

September 18, 1961: Secretary-General of the UN Dag Hammarskjold was killed in a plane crash in Northern Rhodesia (Zambia).

September 24, 1960: The Enterprise, the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, was launched.

September 28, 1924 : Two U.S. Army planes landed in Seattle after completing the first round-the-world-flight in 175 days.

September 29, 1988: The space shuttle Discovery was launched, the first American staffed space flight since the Challenger disaster.

Thanks Infoplease!