A teacher says, “Okay, class. Today we’re going to be talking about the tenses. If I say ‘I’m beautiful,’ which tense is it?”
Little Johnny raises his hand and says, “Obviously past tense, Miss.”
First flight of Aerodrome No.5In 1896, the Aerodrome No. 5 made the first successful flight of an unpiloted, engine-driven, heavier-than-air craft of substantial size. Its inventor, Samuel Pierpont Langley (1834-1906), launched the craft using a spring-actuated catapult mounted on top of a houseboat on the Potomac River, near Quantico, Virginia. Its first flight travelled 1,005-m (3,300-ft), followed by a second of 700 m (2,300 ft) on the same afternoon. Each travelled at a speed of about 25 mph. A few months later, on Nov 28, his Aerodrome No.6, a similar aircraft, accomplished a distance of about 1,460-m (4,790-ft). Langley's scientific work also included astronomy and, from 1887, he was the third Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.« |
