Here’s a great random shot of Alma Heflin we found in a 1940 copy of Click magazine. Heflin was a test pilot for the Piper Aircraft Corporation, and was one of the first women—if not the first—to make a living testing commercial craft. We assume she didn’t fly in pumps, so this is probably a staged publicity shot. Heflin got to be pretty famous, and even published a book in 1942 titled Adventure Was the Compass. We also found a reference to her in a book called History’s Best Test Pilots, so clearly she was tops in the field. But all of this is just background info. The reason we’re sharing this photo is simply because it perfectly captures the romance of flight during the last century. If we run across any more images like these we’ll definitely post them.
1933—Franklin Roosevelt Survives Assassination Attempt
In Miami, Florida, Giuseppe Zangara attempts to shoot President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt, but is restrained by a crowd and, in the course of firing five wild shots, hits five people, including Chicago, Illinois Mayor Anton J. Cermak, who dies of his wounds three weeks later. Zangara is quickly tried and sentenced to eighty years in jail for attempted murder, but is later convicted of murder when Cermak dies. Zangara is sentenced to death and executed in Florida’s electric chair.