This Week in American History: 1910 – Airship America is Launched to Cross Atlantic

Here is what happened this week in American History.

• Oct. 15. On this day in 1910, the non-rigid airship America is launched from Atlantic City, New Jersey, with the goal of attempting to be the first powered aircraft to cross the Atlantic. The airship was built in France by Mutin Goddard for American journalist Walter Wellman. The expedition experienced a number of negative issues and 38 hours into the flight the engines failed due to contaminated fuel. America was drifting south and after 33 more hours was sighted by the steamship Trent. The crew abandoned the airship to be rescued by Trent. The airship drifted from sight and was never seen again.

• Oct. 16. In 1961, Christian John Doleman is born in Indianapolis, Indiana. Doleman attends and plays football at the University of Pittsburgh, becoming a star linebacker and defensive end. In the 1985 NFL draft, Doleman is selected by the Minnesota Vikings. He enjoys a stellar career in Minnesota followed by stints in Atlanta and San Francisco before he retires. Doleman recorded 975 tackles, over 150 sacks, forced 44 fumbles, recovered 24 fumbles, and scored three defensive touchdowns during his career. He will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Doleman passes in 2020 at 58 from brain cancer.

• Oct. 17. Today in 1941, America has not entered World War II and the destroyer, USS Kearney, is docked at Reykjavik, Iceland. Near Reykjavik, a British convoy is attacked by a wolfpack of German U-boats. The Canadian escorts are overwhelmed and request held. Kearney and three other US destroyers respond to the call. Upon arrival at the convoy, the American destroyers begin depth charging the U-boats. During the action U-568 strikes Kearney with a torpedo, blasting a hole in her starboard side. Eleven sailors are killed and 22 injured but determined work by damage control parties save Kearney. She will be repaired and sent back to sea. Kearney survives the war and is decommissioned in 1945. U-568 did not survive the war as she was sunk by British destroyers on May 28, 1942.

• Oct. 18. On this day in 1776, fresh off a British naval victory in the Battle of Valcour Island during America’s Revolutionary War, the two adversaries meet again, this time in a land battle in New York. As has been a continuing story, American forces are hopelessly outnumbered, fielding just 750 soldiers. The British and German Hessian mercenaries number 4,000 trained soldiers. A week earlier the British had landed a force at Throgs Neck with a plan of encircling and capturing Gen. George Washington and the main body of the Continental Army. In a fighting retreat from defensive position to defensive position, the Continental Army stopped the British plan and relocated to White Plains leaving 2,000 soldiers to staff Fort Washington. Today’s battle began at dawn with British and German troops advancing on American positions. Continental Gen. John Glover audaciously attacks the huge British force with his 750 men. Not only did he attack, Glover had his men set up ambushes and pierced the British lines in several places. After a brief pause in the fighting, the British attacked again. Glover had his men wait until the British were just 50 years away at which time they returned fire. This cost the British dearly and allowed units of Glover’s forces to withdraw. Still, the sheer numbers of British and Germans carried the day forcing Glover’s men to retreat to Yonkers. However, Glover’s actions allowed Washington and the main Continental Army to retreat to White Plains. Glover lost just eight men killed with 13 wounded. The British suffered three killed and 20 wounded with German losses estimated at 200 to 1,000. The battle became known at the Battle of Pell’s Point. A statue honoring Glover can be found on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston and a plaque commemorating the battle has been affixed to Glover’s Rock in Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx.

• Oct. 19. In 1953, the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is first published. Describing a future in which books are outlawed and burned, the story was inspired by the actual burning of books in Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union’s repression of selected ideology that included the arrests and murders of writers and poets. Fahrenheit 451 has been developed into movies twice, once in 1966 and again in 2018.

• Oct. 20. Today in 1977, a Convair CV-240 airliner departs the Downtown Airport in Greenville, South Carolina, bound for Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The aircraft has insufficient fuel to make the flight and the pilot attempts a reroute to McComb Airport in Mississippi. As the fuel is exhausted, the pilots make an emergency landing in a field in Amite County, MS. There are 26 people on the aircraft and six die during the landing. Onboard the aircraft are members of the rock band Lynyrd Skynard. Lead vocalist Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist and vocalist Steve Gaines, vocalist Cassie Gaines, and road manager Dean Kilpatrick are among those killed.

• Oct. 21. On this day in 2021, the movie Rust is being filmed. Actor Alec Baldwin is aiming a prop handgun in the direction of a camera rig with three people behind it. Baldwin pulled the gun from the holster and it discharged a round that struck and killed director of photography Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza. The investigation reportedly found a number of safety issues involved in the production; there were also rumors of sabotage. Baldwin failed a basic tenet of gun safety by not checking the firearm before using it. Not surprisingly, charges against Baldwin were dropped. David Halls and Hannah Gutierrez-Reed were charged. Hall was charged with negligent use of a deadly weapon and received probation. Gutierrez-Reed was charged with manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months in prison.