The 1910 London to Manchester air race took place between two aviators, Claude Grahame-White (pictured) and Louis Paulhan, who each attempted to win a £10,000 prize for flying from London to Manchester in under 24 hours. Grahame-White was the first to make the attempt, on 23 April 1910, but engine trouble forced him to land near Lichfield, where he had to give up because of inclement weather. Several days later Paulhan began his flight, with Graham-White, his aeroplane only just repaired, following several hours behind. Despite Graham-White's best efforts, Paulhan arrived in Manchester on 28 April, and won the prize. The event marked the first long-distance aeroplane race in England, the first take-off by a heavier-than-air machine at night, and the first powered flight into Manchester from outside the city.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1910_London_to_Manchester_air_race

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1776:

The Wealth of Nations by Scottish political economist Adam Smith was first published, becoming the first modern work in the field of economics. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wealth_of_Nations

1925:

The British Royal Air Force began Pink's War, an air-to-ground bombardment against the mountain strongholds of Mahsud tribesmen in South Waziristan, British Raj, without the support of the British Army. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink%27s_War

1932:

Éamon de Valera, one of the dominant political figures in twentieth century Ireland, became President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89amon_de_Valera

1945:

World War II: A bomb raid on Tokyo by American B-29 heavy bombers started a firestorm, killing over 100,000 people. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Tokyo

1977:

Twelve gunmen seized three buildings in Washington, D.C., and took 149 hostages in a 39-hour standoff that ended in only two deaths. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1977_Hanafi_Siege

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

win-win (adj): Of a situation or outcome that benefits two parties, or that has two distinct benefits http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/win-win

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

It is necessary to write, if the days are not to slip emptily by. How else, indeed, to clap the net over the butterfly of the moment? for the moment passes, it is forgotten; the mood is gone; life itself is gone. That is where the writer scores over his fellows: he catches the changes of his mind on the hop. Growth is exciting; growth is dynamic and alarming. Growth of the soul, growth of the mind; how the observation of last year seems childish, superficial; how this year — even this week — even with this new phrase — it seems to us that we have grown to a new maturity. It may be a fallacious persuasion, but at least it is stimulating, and so long as it persists, one does not stagnate. --Vita Sackville-West http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Vita_Sackville-West