Pan American World Airways was the principal international airline of the United States from the 1930s until its collapse in 1991. Originally founded as a seaplane service out of Key West, Florida, the airline became a major company; it was credited with many innovations that shaped the international airline industry, including the widespread use of jet aircraft, jumbo jets, and computerized reservation systems. Identified by its blue globe logo and the use of "Clipper" in aircraft names and call signs, the airline was a cultural icon of the 20th century, and the unofficial flag carrier of the United States. Pan Am went through two incarnations after 1991. The second Pan Am operated from 1996 to 1998 with a focus on low-cost, long-distance flights between the U.S. and the Caribbean. The current incarnation, based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and known as the Pan Am "Clipper Connection," is operated by Boston-Maine Airways. The airline currently flies to destinations in the northeastern United States, Florida, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1228: Frederick of Isenberg was executed for the murder of his cousin Engelbert of Berg, the Archbishop of Cologne. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_of_Isenberg)

1889: Nellie Bly, reporter for the New York World, departed on her successful attempt to travel Around the World in Eighty Days. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nellie_Bly)

1940: Coventry Cathedral and much of the city centre was destroyed in heavy Luftwaffe bombing. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coventry_Cathedral)

1971: Mariner 9 reached Mars, becoming the first spacecraft to orbit another planet. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariner_9)

1990: The Federal Republic of Germany amended its constitution to confirm the Polish border at the Oder-Neisse line. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oder-Neisse_line)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

"The ambition of the greatest men of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye. That may be beyond us, but so long as there are tears and suffering, so long our work will not be over." -- Jawaharlal Nehru (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jawaharlal_Nehru)