Count Ferdinand von ZeppelinBorn 8 Jul 1838; died 8 Mar 1917 at age 78.Ferdinand Adolf August Heinrich Count von Zeppelin was a German inventor, engineer and manufacturer who was the aviation pioneer thatbuilt the first rigid dirigible airships, named Zeppelins. After retiring from a military career (1890), he devoted ten years to the designing and building of his first successful light-than-air craft, the LZ-1. He patented his idea on 31 Aug 1895 and formed a company to build airships in 1898. Many thought his invention incredible, and called him “Foolish Count.”His first airship took off on 2 Jul 1900 at Lake Constance, where it had been assembled in a floating assembly shed. Its success stimulated funding from the community. Eventually, he produced more than 100 zeppelins for military uses in WW I. During the war, Zeppelins were used to bomb Britain beginning 19 Jan 1915 with attacks on Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn. After the war, he continued to improve the design and built a fleet of airships for commercial passenger service, which included transatlantic flights. Zeppelin use ended after the 6 May 1937 Hindenburg fire disaster at Lakehurst, N.J., U.S.A.« |
