Today in History, October 14, 1947: Test pilot Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier

Associated Press
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On Oct. 14, 1947, 24-year-old Capt. Chuck Yeager piloted the experimental rocket-propelled Bell Aircraft XS-1, through the sound barrier - one of the first steps toward the force's future in air superiority.
On Oct. 14, 1947, 24-year-old Capt. Chuck Yeager piloted the experimental rocket-propelled Bell Aircraft XS-1, through the sound barrier - one of the first steps toward the force's future in air superiority.

Today is Oct. 14. On this date:

1586

Mary, Queen of Scots, went on trial in England, accused of committing treason against Queen Elizabeth I. (Mary was beheaded in February 1587.)

1912

Theodore Roosevelt, campaigning for the presidency, was shot in the chest in Milwaukee. Despite the wound, he went ahead with a scheduled speech.

1926

“Winnie-the-Pooh” by A.A. Milne was first published by Methuen & Co. of London.

1939

A German U-boat torpedoed and sank the HMS Royal Oak, a British battleship anchored at Scapa Flow in Scotland’s Orkney Islands; 833 of the more than 1,200 men aboard were killed.

1947

U.S. Air Force Capt. Charles E. “Chuck” Yeager became the first test pilot to break the sound barrier as he flew the experimental Bell XS-1 (later X-1) rocket plane over Muroc Dry Lake in California.

1964

Civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

1987

A 58-hour drama began in Midland, Texas, as 18-month-old Jessica McClure slid 22 feet down a narrow abandoned well at a private day care center; she was rescued Oct. 16.

2006

Fountain Square in Cincinnati opened after a second major remodel and relocation of the Tyler Davidson Fountain.

2017

A truck bombing in Somalia’s capital killed more than 500 people in one of the world’s deadliest attacks in years; officials blamed the attack on the extremist group al-Shabab and said it was meant to target Mogadishu’s international airport, but the bomb detonated in a crowded street after soldiers opened fire.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Today in History, October 14, 1947: Test pilot Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier