On this day #1
On this day in 1943, during World War II, an F4U Corsair made the first successful radar-guided interception ever by a United States Navy or Marine Corps aircraft. Put simply, the pilot found and reached another aircraft by following radar, not just their own eyes.
The photo isn't from that moment. It shows Royal Navy Corsair fighters flying over Maine earlier that fall, in September 1943. They're the same tough, bent-wing planes from the same year, out in clear daylight.
It still touches your everyday life. Think about the last time you checked a weather map before heading out, or sat on a plane waiting for clearance to land. Today we trust machines to see what we can't, and moments like this one helped people learn to trust them.
It also fits Halloween night, when little ghosts are out finding their way in the dark. It's a story about learning to see what's hidden.
Photo: Lieutenant Charles Fenno Jacobs, U.S. Navy, 1943. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.
Lieutenant Charles Fenno Jacobs, U.S. Navy, 1943 · Wikimedia Commons, Public domain · https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Navy_Corsair_I_fighters_in_flight_over_Maine_in_September_1943.jpg
Sources:
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Navy_Corsair_I_fighters_in_flight_over_Maine_in_September_1943.jpg
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vought_F4U_Corsair
On this day #2
On this day in 1913, the Lincoln Highway was dedicated as the first automobile highway across the United States. Before that, driving across the country was less a road trip and more a hopeful idea, with plenty of mud, guesswork and stopping to ask directions from anyone standing near a fence. The picture here isn't the dedication itself. It's a later map of the Lincoln Highway, tracing the stretch from New York City to Philadelphia, the kind of thing a driver kept folded on the seat beside the thermos. The highway still matters every time you pull onto a road and simply expect it to lead somewhere. The idea of one connected route you could follow across the country helped turn the car from a novelty into the way Americans get to work, visit family and, tonight, drive a carload of costumed kids to the neighborhood with the best porch lights. Happy Halloween, and safe travels on whatever road you take.
Photo: Keystone Automobile Club, 1923. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.
Keystone Automobile Club, 1923 · Wikimedia Commons, Public domain · https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_the_Lincoln_Highway_from_New_York_City_to_Philadelphia.jpg
Sources:
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_the_Lincoln_Highway_from_New_York_City_to_Philadelphia.jpg
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Highway
