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November 2, 1947

Today In History

Howard Hughes' | "Spruce Goose" flies for 1st & last time

The Hughes Flying Boat | the largest aircraft ever built is piloted by designer Howard Hughes on its first and only flight. Built with laminated birch and spruce, the massive wooden aircraft had a wingspan longer than a football field and was designed to carry more than 700 men to battle. Howard Hughes was a successful Hollywood movie producer when he founded the Hughes Aircraft Company in 1932. He personally tested cutting-edge aircraft of his own design and in 1937 broke the transcontinental flight-time record. In 1938, he flew around the world in a record three days, 19 hours, and 14 minutes. Following the U.S. entrance into World War II in 1941, the U.S. government commissioned the Hughes Aircraft Company to build a large flying boat capable of carrying men and materials over long distances. The concept for what would become the “Spruce Goose” was originally conceived by the industrialist Henry Kaiser, but Kaiser dropped out of the project early, leaving Hughes and his small team to make the H-4 a reality. Because of wartime restrictions on steel, Hughes decided to build his aircraft out of wood laminated with plastic and covered with fabric. Although it was constructed mainly of birch, the use of spruce (along with its white-gray color) would later earn the aircraft the nickname Spruce Goose. It had a wingspan of 320 feet and was powered by eight giant propeller engines. Development of the Spruce Goose cost a phenomenal $23 million and took so long that the war had ended by the time of its completion in 1946. The aircraft had many detractors, and Congress demanded that Hughes prove the plane airworthy. On November 2, 1947, Hughes obliged, taking the H-4 prototype out into Long Beach Harbor, CA for an unannounced flight test. Thousands of onlookers had come to watch the aircraft taxi on the water and were surprised when Hughes lifted his wooden behemoth 70 feet above the water and flew for a mile before landing. Despite its successful maiden flight, the Spruce Goose never went into production, primarily because critics alleged that its wooden framework was insufficient to support its weight during long flights. Nevertheless, Howard Hughes, who became increasingly eccentric and withdrawn after 1950, refused to neglect what he saw as his greatest achievement in the aviation field. From 1947 until his death in 1976, he kept the Spruce Goose prototype ready for flight in an enormous, climate-controlled hangar at a cost of $1 million per year. Today, the Spruce Goose is housed at the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon.

Remember When

M & M Candy Introduced Today
1941 Newark, NJ The Mars Candy Company introduced a new candy today called M & Ms. Manufactured in Newark, NJ, this miniature candy made with milk chocolate comes in multiple colors; lavender, red, green, orange, and brown. The box costs 5 cents. Other well known products of Mars are Milky Way, Snickers, and Three Musketeers.
Michigan vs. Ohio State- The Rivalry
CLASSIC IMAGE: Joe DiMaggio prepares for the game
Song of the Day
Ray Charles | Georgia On My Mind 
U.S.A. | We are the World
Explore America
Bali Hai in Kauai

CLASSIC VOICES

Aretha Franklin

Dionne Warwick

Barbra Streisand

Diana Ross

Linda Ronstadt

Aretha Franklin

Dionne Warwick

Barbra Streisand

Diana Ross

Linda Ronstadt

TV Show of the Day
The Smokey Robinson Show featuring Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, The Miracles, The Temptations, The Supremes and Fran Jeffries
Groucho Marx on the Dick Cavett show - 1969
Isiah Thomas
Interview of the Day
Rod Stewart appears on Piers Morgan's Life Stories - Full Interview plus a live performance
TIME MAGAZINES MAN OF THE YEAR - 1961 - John F. Kennedy
TIME MAGAZINES - MAN OF THE YEAR - The 1960s 1960 American Scientists 1961 John F. Kennedy 1962 Pope John XXIII 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. 1964 Lyndon Johnson 1965 General William Westmoreland 1966 Kids 25 and Under 1967 Lyndon Johnson 1968 Apollo Astronauts 1969 The Middle Americans

CLASSIC AMERICAN IMAGES

Walt with his family

Burt with his wife Angie

Jimmy with Henry

Edgar and Charlie

Ryan and Barbra

Walt with his family

Burt with his wife Angie

Jimmy with Henry

Edgar and Charlie

Ryan and Barbra

The Classics

Bob Cousy

Bob Gibson

Hank Aaron

Ted Williams

Roberto Clemente

Bob Cousy

Bob Gibson

Hank Aaron

Ted Williams

Roberto Clemente

Collectible Editions

You have a choice of three versions of our collectible edition to select from. 52-pages, 100-pages (special oversized edition) and our 104-page version (hard cover). Enjoy your stroll down memory lane!



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