Providence Airport was an airfield operational in the mid-20th century in Seekonk, Massachusetts.
158-552: On July 21, 1927, aviator Charles Lindbergh visited Quonset, Rhode Island as the first stop on his national tour after his famous transatlantic flight. Lindbergh, a hugely popular figure, stressed the importance of building an airport to serve the Providence area. In 1928, the Providence Airport Corporation was formed to build the city's first airport. World War I flying hero Clifton Badlam Thompson
316-605: A U.S. Army Air Service cadet in 1924. Later that year, he was hired as a U.S. Air Mail pilot in the Greater St. Louis area, where he began to prepare for his historic 1927 transatlantic flight . For his flight, President Calvin Coolidge presented Lindbergh both the Distinguished Flying Cross and Medal of Honor , the highest U.S. military award. He also earned the highest French order of merit ,
474-476: A pervasive cult of personality around Adolf Hitler to influence public opinion. The government controlled artistic expression, promoting specific art forms and banning or discouraging others. Genocide , mass murder , and large-scale forced labour became hallmarks of the regime; the implementation of the regime's racial policies culminated in the Holocaust . After the initial success of German invasion of
632-725: A Knight of the Order of Leopold ; as Lindbergh shook the king's hand, he said: "I have heard much of the famous soldier-king of the Belgians." The United Press reported that "One million persons are in Brussels today to greet Lindbergh," constituting "the greatest welcome ever accorded a private citizen in Belgium." After Belgium, Lindbergh traveled to the United Kingdom . He departed Brussels and arrived at Croydon Air Field in
790-552: A commission as a second lieutenant in the Air Service Reserve Corps . Lindbergh later said that this year was critical to his development as both a focused, goal-oriented individual and as an aviator. The Army did not need additional active-duty pilots, however, so following graduation, Lindbergh returned to civilian aviation as a barnstormer and flight instructor , although as a reserve officer he also continued to do some part-time military flying by joining
948-488: A communist uprising. The Reichstag Fire Decree , imposed on 28 February 1933, rescinded most civil liberties, including rights of assembly and freedom of the press. The decree also allowed the police to detain people indefinitely without charges. The legislation was accompanied by a propaganda campaign that led to public support for the measure. Violent suppression of communists by the SA was undertaken nationwide and 4,000 members of
1106-554: A custom monoplane for $ 10,580, and on February 25 , 1927, a deal was formally closed. Dubbed the Spirit of St. Louis , the fabric-covered, single-seat, single-engine high-wing monoplane was designed jointly by Lindbergh and Ryan's chief engineer Donald A. Hall . The Spirit flew for the first time just two months later, and after a series of test flights Lindbergh took off from San Diego on May 10 . He went first to St. Louis, then on to Roosevelt Field on New York's Long Island . In
1264-512: A distance of 3,600 miles (5,800 km), flying alone for 33.5 hours in the first solo transatlantic flight. His aircraft, the Spirit of St. Louis , was designed to compete for the $ 25,000 Orteig Prize for the first flight between the two cities. Lindbergh was raised mostly in Little Falls, Minnesota , and Washington, D.C., the son of U.S. Congressman Charles August Lindbergh . He became
1422-760: A dozen other schools from Washington, D.C. , to California during his childhood and teenage years (none for more than two years), including the Force School and Sidwell Friends School while living in Washington with his father, and Redondo Union High School in Redondo Beach, California , while living there with his mother. Although he enrolled in the College of Engineering at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in late 1920, Lindbergh dropped out in
1580-494: A few hours had elapsed since takeoff. To keep his mind clear, Lindbergh descended and flew at only 10 feet (3 m) above the water's surface. By around 11:52 AM, he had climbed to an altitude of 200 feet (60 m), and at this point was 400 miles (640 km) distant from New York. Nova Scotia appeared ahead and, after flying over the Gulf of Maine , he was only "6 miles (10 km), or 2 degrees, off course." At 3:52 PM,
1738-603: A glimpse" of him. The crowd became so great that police had to call in reserves from Scotland Yard . Upon his arrival back in the United States aboard the U.S. Navy cruiser USS Memphis (CL-13) on June 11 , 1927, a fleet of warships and multiple flights of military aircraft escorted him up the Potomac River to the Washington Navy Yard , where President Calvin Coolidge awarded him
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#17327803635091896-812: A goodwill tour to Mexico along with humorist and actor Will Rogers , Lindbergh met Anne in Mexico City in December 1927. The couple was married on May 27 , 1929, at the Morrow estate in Englewood, New Jersey , where they resided after their marriage before moving to the western part of the state. They had six children: Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr. (1930–1932); Jon Morrow Lindbergh (1932–2021); Land Morrow Lindbergh (b. 1937), who studied anthropology at Stanford University ; Anne Lindbergh (1940–1993); Scott Lindbergh (b. 1942); and Reeve Lindbergh (b. 1945),
2054-580: A massive secret rearmament program , forming the Wehrmacht (armed forces). The return to economic stability boosted the regime's popularity. Germany made increasingly aggressive territorial demands, threatening war if they were not met. Germany seized Austria in the Anschluss of 1938, and demanded and received the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia. Germany signed a non-aggression pact with
2212-657: A non-aggression pact with Poland. In March 1939, Hitler demanded the return of the Free City of Danzig and the Polish Corridor , a strip of land that separated East Prussia from the rest of Germany. The British announced they would come to the aid of Poland if it was attacked. Hitler, believing the British would not take action, ordered an invasion plan should be readied for September 1939. On 23 May, Hitler described to his generals his overall plan of not only seizing
2370-462: A period of one month, they subsequently came to be known in the philatelic world as the covers of the "Lost Mail Flight". The historic flight was received with much notoriety in the press and marked the beginning of extended airmail service between the United States and Mexico. In his autobiography, Lindbergh derided pilots he met as womanizing "barnstormers"; he also criticized Army cadets for their "facile" approach to relationships. He wrote that
2528-474: A protectorate of France under the condition that its residents would later decide by referendum which country to join, and Poland became a separate nation and was given access to the sea by the creation of the Polish Corridor , which separated Prussia from the rest of Germany, while Danzig was made a free city . Germany regained control of the Saarland through a referendum held in 1935 and annexed Austria in
2686-459: A second national anthem. Germany was still in a dire economic situation, as six million people were unemployed and the balance of trade deficit was daunting. Using deficit spending , public works projects were undertaken beginning in 1934, creating 1.7 million new jobs by the end of that year alone. Average wages began to rise. The SA leadership continued to apply pressure for greater political and military power. In response, Hitler used
2844-600: A sign he had reached the other side of the Atlantic. He circled and flew closely, but no fishermen appeared on the boat decks, although he did see a face watching from a porthole. Dingle Bay , in County Kerry of southwest Ireland , was the first European land that Lindbergh encountered; he veered to get a better look and consulted his charts, identifying it as the southern tip of Ireland. The local time in Ireland
3002-523: A significant address, titled "Speech on Neutrality", outlining his position and arguments against greater American involvement in the war. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and German declaration of war against the U.S. , Lindbergh avidly supported the American war effort but was rejected for active duty, as Roosevelt refused to restore his commission. Instead he flew 50 combat missions in
3160-713: A substantial minority of Germans, who lived mostly in the Sudetenland . Under pressure from separatist groups within the Sudeten German Party , the Czechoslovak government offered economic concessions to the region. Hitler decided not just to incorporate the Sudetenland into the Reich, but to destroy the country of Czechoslovakia entirely. The Nazis undertook a propaganda campaign to try to generate support for an invasion. Top German military leaders opposed
3318-626: A thousand people (out of a population of around 16,000) committed suicide in Demmin around 1 May 1945 as the 65th Army of 2nd Belorussian Front first broke into a distillery and then rampaged through the town, committing mass rapes, arbitrarily executing civilians, and setting fire to buildings. High numbers of suicides took place in many other locations, including Neubrandenburg (600 dead), Stolp in Pommern (1,000 dead), and Berlin, where at least 7,057 people committed suicide in 1945. Estimates of
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#17327803635093476-840: A war fought on two fronts. The invasion conquered a huge area, including the Baltic states, Belarus , and west Ukraine . After the successful Battle of Smolensk in September 1941, Hitler ordered Army Group Centre to halt its advance to Moscow and temporarily divert its Panzer groups to aid in the encirclement of Leningrad and Kyiv . This pause provided the Red Army with an opportunity to mobilise fresh reserves. The Moscow offensive, which resumed in October 1941, ended disastrously in December . On 7 December 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor , Hawaii. Four days later, Germany declared war on
3634-515: A war of conquest to obtain more territory. The Saarland , which had been placed under League of Nations supervision for 15 years at the end of World War I, voted in January 1935 to become part of Germany. In March 1935, Hitler announced the creation of an air force, and that the Reichswehr would be increased to 550,000 men. Britain agreed to Germany building a naval fleet with the signing of
3792-621: A week when he ran into a ditch in Glencoe, Minnesota , while flying his father—then running for the U.S. Senate—to a campaign stop. In October, Lindbergh flew his Jenny to Iowa , where he sold it to a flying student. He returned to Lincoln by train, where he joined Leon Klink and continued to barnstorm through the South for the next few months in Klink's Curtiss JN-4C "Canuck" (the Canadian version of
3950-733: A writer. Lindbergh taught Anne how to fly, and she accompanied and assisted him in much of his exploring and charting of air routes. Nazi Germany Nazi Germany , officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich , was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictatorship . The Third Reich , meaning "Third Realm" or "Third Empire", referred to
4108-534: A year later in May 1923 at Souther Field in Americus, Georgia , a former Army flight-training field, where he bought a World War I surplus Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny" biplane for $ 500. Though Lindbergh had not touched an airplane in more than six months, he had already secretly decided that he was ready to take to the air by himself. After a half-hour of dual time with a pilot who was visiting the field, Lindbergh flew solo for
4266-466: Is in fine shape and I could circle Europe without touching it." Belgian troops with fixed bayonets protected the Spirit to avoid a repeat of the damage at Le Bourget. From Evere, Lindbergh motored to the U.S. embassy, and then went to place a wreath on the Belgian tomb of the unknown soldier . He then visited the Belgian royal palace at the invitation of King Albert I , where the king made Lindbergh
4424-678: Is that this is worse than what happened at Le Bourget Field," he told them. "But all the same, I'm glad to be here." When he reached the reception room where British Secretary of State for Air Sir Samuel Hoare , U.S. Ambassador Alanson B. Houghton , and others waited, his first words were: "Save my plane!" Mechanics moved the Spirit to a hangar where it was placed "under a military guard." Also present at Croydon were former Secretary of State for Air Lord Thomson , Director of Civil Aviation Sir Sefton Brancker , and Brig. Gen. P. R. C. Groves . Accompanied by two Royal Air Force planes, he then flew 90 miles from Croydon to Gosport , where he left
4582-431: The 33 + 1 ⁄ 2 hours of the flight, the aircraft fought icing , flew blind through fog for several hours, and Lindbergh navigated only by dead reckoning (he was not proficient at navigating by the sun and stars and he rejected radio navigation gear as heavy and unreliable). He was fortunate that the winds over the Atlantic cancelled each other out, giving him zero wind drift—and thus accurate navigation during
4740-466: The Schutzstaffel (SS) and Gestapo to purge the entire SA leadership. Hitler targeted SA Stabschef (Chief of Staff) Ernst Röhm and other SA leaders who—along with a number of Hitler's political adversaries (such as Gregor Strasser and former chancellor Kurt von Schleicher )—were arrested and shot. Up to 200 people were killed from 30 June to 2 July 1934 in an event that became known as
4898-579: The Völkisch movement . The party, especially its paramilitary organisation Sturmabteilung (SA; Storm Detachment), or Brownshirts, used physical violence to advance their political position, disrupting the meetings of rival organisations and attacking their members as well as Jewish people on the streets. Such far-right armed groups were common in Bavaria , and were tolerated by the sympathetic far-right state government of Gustav Ritter von Kahr . When
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5056-714: The 110th Observation Squadron , 35th Division, Missouri National Guard , in St. Louis. He was promoted to first lieutenant on December 7, 1925, and to captain in July 1926. In October 1925, Lindbergh was hired by the Robertson Aircraft Corporation (RAC) at the Lambert-St. Louis Flying Field in Anglum, Missouri, (where he had been working as a flight instructor) to lay out and then serve as chief pilot for
5214-541: The 6th Army could be supplied by air, but this turned out to be infeasible. Hitler's refusal to allow a retreat led to the deaths of 200,000 German and Romanian soldiers; of the 91,000 men who surrendered in the city on 31 January 1943, only 6,000 survivors returned to Germany after the war. Losses continued to mount after Stalingrad, leading to a sharp reduction in the popularity of the Nazi Party and deteriorating morale. Soviet forces continued to push westward after
5372-745: The Anglo-German Naval Agreement on 18 June 1935. When the Italian invasion of Ethiopia led to only mild protests by the British and French governments, on 7 March 1936 Hitler used the Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance as a pretext to order the army to march 3,000 troops into the demilitarised zone in the Rhineland in violation of the Versailles Treaty. As the territory was part of Germany,
5530-634: The Anschluss of 1938. The Munich Agreement of 1938 gave Germany control of the Sudetenland, and they seized the remainder of Czechoslovakia six months later. Under threat of invasion by sea, Lithuania surrendered the Memel district in March 1939. Between 1939 and 1941, German forces invaded Poland , Denmark , Norway , France , Luxembourg , the Netherlands , Belgium , Yugoslavia , Greece , and
5688-575: The Battle of Berlin (16 April – 2 May 1945), Hitler and his staff lived in the underground Führerbunker while the Red Army approached. On 30 April, when Soviet troops were within two blocks of the Reich Chancellery , Hitler and his wife Eva Braun committed suicide . On 2 May, General Helmuth Weidling unconditionally surrendered Berlin to Soviet General Vasily Chuikov . Hitler
5846-524: The Canyon of Heroes to City Hall, where he was received by Mayor Jimmy Walker . A ticker-tape parade followed to Central Park Mall , where he was awarded the New York Medal for Valor at a ceremony hosted by New York Governor Al Smith and attended by a crowd of 200,000. Some 4,000,000 people saw Lindbergh that day. That evening, Lindbergh was accompanied by his mother and Mayor Walker when he
6004-520: The Caribbean , which he had earlier laid out as a consultant to Pan American Airways to be then flown under contract to the Post Office as Foreign Air Mail (FAM) routes 5 and 6. On 10 March 1929, Lindbergh flew an inaugural flight from Brownsville, Texas , to Mexico City via Tampico , in a Ford Trimotor airplane, carrying a load of U.S. mail. When a number of mail bags came up missing for
6162-738: The Communist Party of Germany were arrested. On 23 March 1933, the Enabling Act , an amendment to the Weimar Constitution , passed in the Reichstag by a vote of 444 to 94. This amendment allowed Hitler and his cabinet to pass laws—even laws that violated the constitution—without the consent of the president or the Reichstag. As the bill required a two-thirds majority to pass, the Nazis used intimidation tactics as well as
6320-488: The Congressional Gold Medal in 1930. In 1931, he and French surgeon Alexis Carrel began work on inventing the first perfusion pump , a device credited with making future heart surgeries and organ transplantation possible. On March 1, 1932, Lindbergh's first-born infant child, Charles Jr., was kidnapped and murdered in what the American media called the " crime of the century ". The case prompted
6478-576: The Daily Mail prize for the first nonstop transatlantic flight . They left St. John's, Newfoundland , on June 14 , 1919, and arrived in Clifden, County Galway , Ireland the following day. Around the same time, French-born New York hotelier Raymond Orteig was approached by Augustus Post , secretary of the Aero Club of America, to put up a $ 25,000 (equivalent to $ 439,000 in 2023) award for
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6636-651: The Distinguished Flying Cross . Lindbergh received the first award of this medal, but it violated the authorizing regulation. Coolidge's own executive order, published in March 1927, required recipients to perform their feats of airmanship "while participating in an aerial flight as part of the duties incident to such membership [in the Organized Reserves]", which Lindbergh failed to satisfy. Lindbergh flew from Washington, D.C., to New York City on June 13 , arriving in Lower Manhattan . He traveled up
6794-518: The German Empire (1871–1918) as the second. Severe setbacks to the German economy began after World War I ended, partly because of reparations payments required under the 1919 Treaty of Versailles . The government printed money to make the payments and to repay the country's war debt, but the resulting hyperinflation led to inflated prices, economic chaos, and food riots. When the government defaulted on their reparations payments in January 1923, French troops occupied German industrial areas along
6952-446: The Hague Convention , industrial firms in the Netherlands, France, and Belgium were put to work producing war materiel for Germany. The Nazis seized from the French thousands of locomotives and rolling stock, stockpiles of weapons, and raw materials such as copper, tin, oil, and nickel. Payments for occupation costs were levied upon France, Belgium, and Norway. Barriers to trade led to hoarding, black markets , and uncertainty about
7110-403: The League of Nations in October, claiming its disarmament clauses were unfair if they applied only to Germany. In a referendum held in November , 95 per cent of voters supported Germany's withdrawal. In 1934, Hitler told his military leaders that rearmament needed to be complete by 1942, as by then the German people would require more living space and resources, so Germany would have to start
7268-468: The Legion of Honor . His achievement spurred significant global interest in both commercial aviation and air mail , which revolutionized the aviation industry worldwide (a phenomenon dubbed the " Lindbergh boom "), and he spent much time promoting these industries. Time magazine honored Lindbergh as its first Man of the Year in 1928, President Herbert Hoover appointed him to the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics in 1929, and he received
7426-441: The Levasseur PL 8 seaplane L'Oiseau Blanc ; they disappeared somewhere in the Atlantic after last being seen crossing the west coast of Ireland . Financing the historic flight was a challenge due to Lindbergh's obscurity, but two St. Louis businessmen eventually obtained a $ 15,000 bank loan. Lindbergh contributed $ 2,000 (equivalent to $ 35,000 in 2023) of his own money from his salary as an air mail pilot and another $ 1,000
7584-402: The Low Countries . They quickly conquered Luxembourg and the Netherlands and outmanoeuvred the Allies in Belgium , forcing the evacuation of many British and French troops at Dunkirk . France fell as well, surrendering to Germany on 22 June . The victory in France resulted in an upswing in Hitler's popularity and an upsurge in war fever in Germany. In violation of the provisions of
7742-420: The Nazi euthanasia program . Political courts called Sondergerichte sentenced some 12,000 members of the German resistance to death, and civil courts sentenced an additional 40,000 Germans. Mass rapes of German women also took place. As a result of their defeat in World War I and the resulting Treaty of Versailles, Germany lost Alsace-Lorraine , Northern Schleswig , and Memel . The Saarland became
7900-499: The Night of the Long Knives . On 2 August 1934, Hindenburg died. The previous day, the cabinet had enacted the " Law Concerning the Head of State of the German Reich ", which stated that upon Hindenburg's death the office of Reich President would be abolished and its powers merged with those of Reich Chancellor. Hitler thus became head of state as well as head of government and was formally named as Führer und Reichskanzler ("Leader and Chancellor"), although eventually Reichskanzler
8058-404: The Pacific Theater as a civilian consultant and was unofficially credited with shooting down an enemy aircraft. In 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower restored his commission and promoted him to brigadier general in the U.S. Air Force Reserve . In his later years, he became a Pulitzer Prize -winning author, international explorer and environmentalist, helping to establish national parks in
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#17327803635098216-409: The Ruhr and widespread civil unrest followed. The National Socialist German Workers' Party ( Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei ), commonly known as the Nazi Party, was founded in 1920. It was the renamed successor of the German Workers' Party (DAP) formed one year earlier, and one of several far-right political parties then active. The Nazi Party platform included destruction of
8374-399: The Soviet Union and invaded Poland on 1 September 1939, launching World War II in Europe . In alliance with Italy and other Axis powers , Germany conquered most of Europe by 1940 and threatened Great Britain. Racism , Nazi eugenics , anti-Slavism , and especially antisemitism were central ideological features of the regime. The Germanic peoples were considered by the Nazis to be
8532-416: The Spirit before returning to the United States. On May 28, Lindbergh flew to Evere Aerodrome in Brussels , Belgium, circling the field three times for the cheering crowd and taxiing to a halt just after 3:00 PM, as a thousand children waved American flags. On his way to Evere, Lindbergh had met an escort of ten planes from the airport, who found him on course near Mons but had trouble keeping up as
8690-401: The Spirit from St. Louis to Washington, D.C., where it has been on public display at the Smithsonian Institution ever since. Over the previous 367 days, Lindbergh and the Spirit had logged 489 hours 28 minutes of flight time. A " Lindbergh boom " in aviation had begun. The volume of mail moving by air increased 50 percent within six months, applications for pilots' licenses tripled, and
8848-468: The Spirit made during their 7,800 mi (12,600 km) "Good Will Tour" of Latin America and the Caribbean between December 13 , 1927, and February 8 , 1928, and the only franked mail pieces that he ever flew in his iconic plane. Two weeks after his Latin American tour, Lindbergh piloted a series of special flights over his old CAM-2 route on February 20 and February 21 . Tens of thousands of self-addressed souvenir covers were sent in from all over
9006-461: The Spirit on May 29, where a crowd of 100,000 "mobbed" him. Before reaching the airfield he overflew London where crowds, some on roofs, "gazed at the flyer" and observers with "field glasses in the West End business district" watched him. About 50 minutes before he landed, the "roads leading toward Croydon airport were jammed." Flying into the airfield, Lindbergh "appeared on the horizon" at 5:50 PM accompanied by six British military planes, but
9164-421: The Spirit to be dismantled for shipment back to New York. On May 31, accompanied by an attache of the U.S. Embassy , Lindbergh visited British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin at 10 Downing Street and then motored to Buckingham Palace , where King George V received him as a guest and awarded him the British Air Force Cross . In anticipation of Lindbergh's visit to the palace, a crowd massed "hoping to get
9322-400: The Spirit was averaging "about 100 miles an hour." On landing, Lindbergh was welcomed by military officers and prominent officials, including Belgian Prime Minister Henri Jaspar , who led the procession of Lindbergh's plane to a "platform where it was raised to the view of cheering thousands." "It was a splendid flight," Lindbergh declared, stating: "I enjoyed every minute of it. The motor
9480-440: The Spirit ; he was flying 90 miles per hour (140 km/h) at 10,000 feet (3,000 m), and was 500 miles (800 km) from Newfoundland. Eighteen hours into the flight, he was halfway to Paris, and while he had planned to celebrate at this point, he instead felt "only dread." Because Lindbergh flew through several time zones, dawn came earlier, at around 2:52 AM. He began to hallucinate about two hours later. At this point in
9638-472: The United States Army Air Service there (and later at nearby Kelly Field ). Lindbergh had his most serious flying accident on March 5 , 1925, eight days before graduation, when a mid-air collision with another Army S.E.5 during aerial combat maneuvers forced him to bail out. Only 18 of the 104 cadets who started flight training a year earlier remained when Lindbergh graduated first overall in his class in March 1925, thereby earning his Army pilot's wings and
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#17327803635099796-414: The federal election of 1932 , the party was the largest in the Reichstag , holding 230 seats with 37.4 per cent of the popular vote. Although the Nazis won the greatest share of the popular vote in the two Reichstag general elections of 1932, they did not have a majority. Hitler refused to participate in a coalition government unless he was its leader. Under pressure from politicians, industrialists, and
9954-671: The " master race ", the purest branch of the Aryan race. Jews , Romani people , Slavs , homosexuals , liberals , socialists , communists , other political opponents, Jehovah's Witnesses , Freemasons , those who refused to work , and other "undesirables" were imprisoned, deported , or murdered. Christian churches and citizens that opposed Hitler's rule were oppressed and leaders imprisoned. Education focused on racial biology , population policy, and fitness for military service. Career and educational opportunities for women were curtailed . Nazi Propaganda Ministry disseminated films, antisemitic canards , and organized mass rallies; fostering
10112-509: The "Good Will Tour", it included stops in Mexico (where he also met his future wife, Anne, the daughter of U.S. Ambassador Dwight Morrow ), Guatemala , British Honduras , El Salvador , Honduras , Nicaragua , Costa Rica , Panama , the Canal Zone , Colombia , Venezuela , St. Thomas , Puerto Rico , the Dominican Republic , Haiti , and Cuba , covering 9,390 miles (15,110 km) in just over 116 hours of flight time. A year and two days after it had made its first flight, Lindbergh flew
10270-407: The Allied bombing campaign became even more devastating. By targeting oil refineries and factories, they crippled the German war effort by late 1944. On 6 June 1944, American, British, and Canadian forces established a front in France with the D-Day landings in Normandy . On 20 July 1944 , Hitler survived an assassination attempt. He ordered brutal reprisals, resulting in 7,000 arrests and
10428-417: The Atlantic, three of which were from Col. Theodore Roosevelt Jr. , son of former President Theodore Roosevelt , who had written letters of introduction at Lindbergh's request. Lindbergh left the airfield around midnight and was driven through Paris to the ambassador's residence, stopping to visit the French Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe ; after arriving at the residence, he slept for
10586-405: The British and French governments did not feel that attempting to enforce the treaty was worth the risk of war. In the one-party election held on 29 March, the Nazis received 98.9 per cent support. In 1936, Hitler signed an Anti-Comintern Pact with Japan and a non-aggression agreement with Mussolini, who was soon referring to a "Rome-Berlin Axis". Hitler sent military supplies and assistance to
10744-407: The English coast, that Lindbergh's plane had started across the English Channel . News soon spread across both "Europe and the United States that Lindbergh had been spotted over England," and a crowd started to form at Le Bourget Aerodrome as he neared Paris. At sunset, he flew over Cherbourg , on the French coast 200 miles (320 km) from Paris; it was around 2:52 PM New York time. Over
10902-573: The German National People's Party – their former coalition partners – which then disbanded on 29 June. The remaining major political parties followed suit. On 14 July 1933 Germany became a one-party state with the passage of the Law Against the Formation of Parties , decreeing the Nazi Party to be the sole legal party in Germany. The founding of new parties was also made illegal, and all remaining political parties which had not already been dissolved were banned. Further elections in November 1933 , 1936 , and 1938 were Nazi-controlled, with only members of
11060-411: The German state in the Nazi era are "Nazi Germany" and the "Third Reich", which Hitler and the Nazis also referred to as the "Thousand-Year Reich" ( Tausendjähriges Reich ). The latter, a translation of the Nazi propaganda term Drittes Reich , was first used in Das Dritte Reich , a 1923 book by Arthur Moeller van den Bruck . The book counted the Holy Roman Empire (962–1806) as the first Reich and
11218-409: The Jenny). Lindbergh also "cracked up" this aircraft once when his engine failed shortly after takeoff in Pensacola, Florida , but again he managed to repair the damage himself. Following a few months of barnstorming through the South , the two pilots parted company in San Antonio , Texas, where Lindbergh reported to Brooks Field on March 19 , 1924 to begin a year of military flight training with
11376-625: The Nationalist forces of General Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War , which began in July 1936. The German Condor Legion included a range of aircraft and their crews, as well as a tank contingent. The aircraft of the Legion destroyed the city of Guernica in 1937. The Nationalists were victorious in 1939 and became an informal ally of Nazi Germany. In February 1938, Hitler emphasised to Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg
11534-634: The Nazi claim that Nazi Germany was the successor to the earlier Holy Roman Empire (800/962–1806) and German Empire (1871–1918). The Third Reich, which the Nazis referred to as the Thousand-Year Reich , ended in May 1945, after only 12 years, when the Allies defeated Germany and entered the capital, Berlin , ending World War II in Europe . After Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany by
11692-690: The Nebraska Aircraft Corporation's flying school in Lincoln and flew for the first time on April 9 as a passenger in a two-seat Lincoln Standard "Tourabout" biplane trainer piloted by Otto Timm . A few days later, Lindbergh took his first formal flying lesson in that same aircraft, though he was never permitted to solo because he could not afford to post the requisite damage bond. To gain flight experience and earn money for further instruction, Lindbergh left Lincoln in June to spend
11850-473: The Party and a small number of independents elected. All civilian organisations had their leadership replaced with Nazi sympathisers or party members, and either merged with the Nazi Party or faced dissolution. The Nazi government declared a "Day of National Labor" for May Day 1933, and invited many trade union delegates to Berlin for celebrations. The day after, SA stormtroopers demolished union offices around
12008-468: The Polish Corridor but greatly expanding German territory eastward at the expense of Poland. He expected this time they would be met by force. The Germans reaffirmed their alliance with Italy and signed non-aggression pacts with Denmark, Estonia, and Latvia whilst trade links were formalised with Romania, Norway, and Sweden. Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop arranged in negotiations with
12166-592: The President of the Weimar Republic Paul von Hindenburg on 30 January 1933, the Nazi Party began to eliminate political opposition and consolidate power. Hindenburg died on 2 August 1934, and Hitler became dictator by merging the powers of the chancellery and presidency. A 1934 German referendum confirmed Hitler as sole Führer (leader). Power was centralised in Hitler's person, and his word became
12324-504: The RAF in what became known as the Battle of Britain , and by the end of October, Hitler realised that air superiority would not be achieved. He permanently postponed the invasion, a plan which the commanders of the German army had never taken entirely seriously. Several historians, including Andrew Gordon , believe the primary reason for the failure of the invasion plan was the superiority of
12482-833: The Royal Navy, not the actions of the RAF. In February 1941, the German Afrika Korps arrived in Libya to aid the Italians in the North African Campaign . On 6 April, Germany launched an invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece . All of Yugoslavia and parts of Greece were subsequently divided between Germany, Hungary, Italy, and Bulgaria. On 22 June 1941, contravening the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, about 3.8 million Axis troops attacked
12640-725: The Soviet Union a non-aggression pact, the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , signed in August 1939. The treaty also contained secret protocols dividing Poland and the Baltic states into German and Soviet spheres of influence. Germany's wartime foreign policy involved the creation of allied governments controlled directly or indirectly from Berlin. They intended to obtain soldiers from allies such as Italy and Hungary and workers and food supplies from allies such as Vichy France . Hungary
12798-573: The Soviet Union attacked from the east on 17 September. Reinhard Heydrich , chief of the Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo; Security Police) and Sicherheitsdienst (SD; Security Service), ordered on 21 September that Polish Jews should be rounded up and concentrated into cities with good rail links. Initially the intention was to deport them further east, or possibly to Madagascar . Using lists prepared in advance , some 65,000 Polish intelligentsia, noblemen, clergy, and teachers were murdered by
12956-722: The Soviet Union in 1941, Nazi Germany attempted to implement the Generalplan Ost and Hunger Plan , as part of its war of extermination in Eastern Europe. The Soviet resurgence and entry of the US into the war meant Germany lost the initiative in 1943 and by late 1944 had been pushed back to the 1939 border. Large-scale aerial bombing of Germany escalated and the Axis powers were driven back in Eastern and Southern Europe. Germany
13114-498: The Soviet Union. In addition to Hitler's stated purpose of acquiring Lebensraum , this large-scale offensive—codenamed Operation Barbarossa —was intended to destroy the Soviet Union and seize its natural resources for subsequent aggression against the Western powers. The reaction among Germans was one of surprise and trepidation as many were concerned about how much longer the war would continue or suspected that Germany could not win
13272-797: The U.S. and protect certain endangered species and tribal people in both the Philippines and east Africa . After retiring in Maui , Lindbergh died in 1974. Lindbergh was born in Detroit, Michigan , on February 4 , 1902, and spent most of his childhood in Little Falls, Minnesota , and Washington, D.C. He was the only child of Charles August Lindbergh ( birth name Carl Månsson), who had emigrated from Sweden to Melrose, Minnesota , as an infant, and Evangeline Lodge Land Lindbergh of Detroit. Lindbergh had three elder paternal half-sisters: Lillian, Edith, and Eva. The couple separated in 1909 when Lindbergh
13430-468: The U.S. to establish kidnapping as a federal crime if a kidnapper crosses state lines with a victim. By late 1935, the press and hysteria surrounding the case had driven the Lindbergh family into exile in Europe, from where they returned in 1939. In the months before the United States entered World War II , Lindbergh's non-interventionist stance and statements about Jews and race led some to believe he
13588-482: The United States. Food was in short supply in the conquered areas of the Soviet Union and Poland, as the retreating armies had burned the crops in some areas, and much of the remainder was sent back to the Reich. In Germany, rations were cut in 1942. In his role as Plenipotentiary of the Four Year Plan , Hermann Göring demanded increased shipments of grain from France and fish from Norway. The 1942 harvest
13746-562: The Weimar Republic, rejection of the Treaty of Versailles, radical antisemitism , and anti- Bolshevism . They promised a strong central government, increased Lebensraum ("living space") for Germanic peoples, formation of a national community based on race, and racial cleansing via the active suppression of Jews , who would be stripped of their citizenship and civil rights. The Nazis proposed national and cultural renewal based upon
13904-517: The balcony of the U.S. embassy , responding "briefly and modestly" to the calls of the crowd. The French Foreign Office flew the American flag, the first time it had saluted someone who was not a head of state. At the Élysée Palace , French President Gaston Doumergue bestowed the Légion d'honneur on Lindbergh, pinning the award on his lapel, with Ambassador Herrick present for the occasion. Lindbergh also made flights to Belgium and Britain in
14062-451: The blockade, imports into Germany declined by 80 per cent. To safeguard Swedish iron ore shipments to Germany, Hitler ordered the invasion of Denmark and Norway , which began on 9 April. Denmark fell after less than a day , while most of Norway followed by the end of the month. By early June, Germany occupied all of Norway . Against the advice of many of his senior military officers, in May 1940 Hitler ordered an attack on France and
14220-857: The book for $ 25 each, all of which were purchased before publication. "WE" was soon translated into most major languages and sold more than 650,000 copies in the first year, earning Lindbergh more than $ 250,000. Its success was considerably aided by Lindbergh's three-month, 22,350-mile (35,970 km) tour of the United States in the Spirit on behalf of the Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics . Between July 20 and October 23 , 1927, Lindbergh visited 82 cities in all 48 states, rode 1,290 mi (2,080 km) in parades, and delivered 147 speeches before 30 million people. Lindbergh then toured 16 Latin American countries between December 13 , 1927, and February 8 , 1928. Dubbed
14378-520: The business community, President Paul von Hindenburg appointed Hitler as Chancellor of Germany on 30 January 1933. This event is known as the Machtergreifung ("seizure of power"). On the night of 27 February 1933, the Reichstag building was set afire . Marinus van der Lubbe , a Dutch communist, was found guilty of starting the blaze. Hitler proclaimed that the arson marked the start of
14536-513: The churches. The Nazi regime abolished the symbols of the Weimar Republic—including the black, red, and gold tricolour flag —and adopted reworked symbolism. The previous imperial black, white, and red tricolour was restored as one of Germany's two official flags; the second was the swastika flag of the Nazi Party, which became the sole national flag in September 1935. The Party anthem " Horst-Wessel-Lied " ("Horst Wessel Song") became
14694-522: The cockpit, and carried him around above their heads for "nearly half an hour." Some minor damage was done to the Spirit by souvenir hunters before pilot and plane reached the safety of a nearby hangar with the aid of French military fliers, soldiers, and police. The Times reported that before the police could intervene the "souvenir mad" spectators "stripped the plane of everything which could be taken off," and were cutting off pieces of linen when "a squad of soldiers with fixed bayonets quickly surrounded"
14852-603: The country; all trade unions were forced to dissolve and their leaders were arrested. The Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service , passed in April, removed from their jobs all teachers, professors, judges, magistrates, and government officials who were Jewish or whose commitment to the party was suspect. This meant the only non-political institutions not under control of the Nazis were
15010-433: The dark hours of his flight". However, as Berg wrote in 1998, Putnam's chose the title without "Lindbergh's knowledge or approval," and Lindbergh would "forever complain about it, that his use of 'we' meant him and his backers, not him and his plane, as the press had people believing"; nonetheless, as Berg remarked, "his frequent unconscious use of the phrase suggested otherwise." Putnam's sold special autographed copies of
15168-413: The early morning of Friday, May 20 , 1927, Lindbergh took off from Roosevelt Field on Long Island . His destination, Le Bourget Aerodrome , was about 7 miles (11 km) outside Paris and 3,610 miles (5,810 km) from his starting point. He was "too busy the night before to lie down for more than a couple of hours," and "had been unable [to] sleep." It rained the morning of his takeoff, but as
15326-573: The eastern coast of Cape Breton Island was below; he struggled to stay awake, even though it was "only the afternoon of the first day." At 5:52 PM, he was flying along the Newfoundland coast, and passed St. John's at 7:15 PM. On its May 21 front page, The New York Times ran a special cable from the prior evening: "Captain Lindbergh's airplane passed over St. John's at 8:15 o'clock tonight [7:15 New York Daylight Saving Time]...was seen by hundreds and disappeared seaward, heading for Ireland...It
15484-563: The electorate in a plebiscite . Most Germans were relieved that the conflicts and street fighting of the Weimar era had ended. They were deluged with propaganda orchestrated by Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda Joseph Goebbels , who promised peace and plenty for all in a united, Marxist-free country without the constraints of the Versailles Treaty. The Nazi Party obtained and legitimised power through its initial revolutionary activities, then through manipulation of legal mechanisms,
15642-529: The end of 1939 in an attempt to destroy Poland's identity as a nation. Soviet forces advanced into Finland in the Winter War , and German forces saw action at sea. But little other activity occurred until May, so the period became known as the " Phoney War ". From the start of the war, a British blockade on shipments to Germany affected its economy. Germany was particularly dependent on foreign supplies of oil, coal, and grain. Thanks to trade embargoes and
15800-602: The establishment of the Nuremberg Laws of 1935, which stripped them of their basic rights. The Nazis would take from the Jews their wealth, their right to intermarry with non-Jews, and their right to occupy many fields of labour (such as law, medicine, or education). Eventually the Nazis declared the Jews as undesirable to remain among German citizens and society. As early as February 1933, Hitler announced that rearmament must begin, albeit clandestinely at first, as to do so
15958-473: The execution of more than 4,900 people. The failed Ardennes Offensive (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945) was the last major German offensive on the western front, and Soviet forces entered Germany on 27 January. Hitler's refusal to admit defeat and his insistence that the war be fought to the last man led to unnecessary death and destruction in the war's closing months. Through his Justice Minister Otto Georg Thierack , Hitler ordered that anyone who
16116-1075: The failed German offensive at the Battle of Kursk in the summer of 1943. By the end of 1943, the Germans had lost most of their eastern territorial gains. In Egypt, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel 's Afrika Korps were defeated by British forces under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery in October 1942. The Allies landed in Sicily in July 1943 and were on the Italian peninsula by September. Meanwhile, American and British bomber fleets based in Britain began operations against Germany . Many sorties were intentionally given civilian targets in an effort to destroy German morale. The bombing of aircraft factories as well as Peenemünde Army Research Center , where V-1 and V-2 rockets were being developed and produced, were also deemed particularly important. German aircraft production could not keep pace with losses, and without air cover
16274-578: The far end of the field "by about twenty feet (6.1 m) with a fair reserve of flying speed". At 8:52 AM, an hour after takeoff, Lindbergh was flying at an altitude of 500 feet (150 m) over Rhode Island , following an uneventful passage—aside from some turbulence—over Long Island Sound and Connecticut . By 9:52 AM, he had passed Boston and was flying with Cape Cod to his right, with an airspeed of 107 miles per hour (172 km/h) and altitude of 150 feet (46 m); about an hour later he began to feel tired, even though only
16432-861: The first successful nonstop transatlantic flight specifically between New York City and Paris within five years after its establishment. When that time limit lapsed in 1924 without a serious attempt, Orteig renewed the offer for another five years, this time attracting a number of well-known, highly experienced, and well-financed contenders —none of whom was successful. On September 21 , 1926, World War I French flying ace René Fonck 's Sikorsky S-35 crashed on takeoff from Roosevelt Field in New York. U.S. Naval aviators Noel Davis and Stanton H. Wooster were killed at Langley Field , Virginia, on April 26 , 1927, while testing their Keystone Pathfinder . On May 8 French war heroes Charles Nungesser and François Coli departed Paris – Le Bourget Airport in
16590-533: The first time in about 60 hours. Lindbergh's flight was certified by the National Aeronautic Association of the United States based on the readings from a sealed barograph placed in the Spirit . Lindbergh received unprecedented acclaim after his historic flight. In the words of biographer A. Scott Berg , people were "behaving as though Lindbergh had walked on water, not flown over it". The New York Times printed an above
16748-511: The first time in the Jenny. After spending another week or so at the field to "practice" (thereby acquiring five hours of "pilot in command" time), Lindbergh took off from Americus for Montgomery, Alabama , some 140 miles (230 km) to the west, for his first solo cross-country flight. He went on to spend much of the remainder of 1923 engaged in almost nonstop barnstorming under the name "Daredevil Lindbergh", this time flying in his "own ship" as
16906-410: The flight, he "continually" fell asleep, awakening "seconds, possibly minutes, later." But after "flying for hours in or above the fog," the weather finally began to clear. 7:52 AM marked twenty-four hours in the air for Lindbergh and he did not feel as tired by this point. At around 9:52 AM New York time, or twenty-seven hours after he left Roosevelt Field, Lindbergh saw "porpoises and fishing boats,"
17064-596: The fold , page-wide headline: "Lindbergh Does It!" and his mother's house in Detroit was surrounded by a crowd reported at nearly a thousand. He became "an international celebrity, with invitations pouring in for him to visit European countries," and he "received marriage proposals, invitations to visit cities across the nation, and thousands of gifts, letters, and endorsement requests." At least "200 songs were written" in tribute to him and his flight. " Lucky Lindy! ", written and composed by L. Wolfe Gilbert and Abel Baer ,
17222-617: The future. Food supplies were precarious; production dropped in most of Europe. Famine was experienced in many occupied countries. Hitler's peace overtures to the new British Prime Minister Winston Churchill were rejected in July 1940. Grand Admiral Erich Raeder had advised Hitler in June that air superiority was a pre-condition for a successful invasion of Britain , so Hitler ordered a series of aerial attacks on Royal Air Force (RAF) airbases and radar stations, as well as nightly air raids on British cities, including London , Plymouth , and Coventry . The German Luftwaffe failed to defeat
17380-526: The highest law. The government was not a coordinated, cooperating body, but rather a collection of factions struggling to amass power. In the midst of the Great Depression , the Nazis restored economic stability and ended mass unemployment using heavy military spending. Financed by deficit spending , the regime undertook extensive public works projects, including the Autobahnen (motorways) and
17538-438: The ideal romance was stable and long-term, with a woman with keen intellect, good health, and strong genes, his "experience in breeding animals on our farm [having taught him] the importance of good heredity". Anne Morrow Lindbergh was the daughter of Dwight Morrow , who, as a partner at J.P. Morgan & Co. , had acted as financial adviser to Lindbergh. He was also the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico in 1927. Invited by Morrow on
17696-763: The impact Lindbergh had on people. Even the first walk on the moon doesn't come close. The twenties was such an innocent time, and people were still so religious—I think they felt like this man was sent by God to do this. And it changed aviation forever because all of a sudden the Wall Streeters were banging on doors looking for airplanes to invest in. We'd been standing on our heads trying to get them to notice us but after Lindbergh, suddenly everyone wanted to fly, and there weren't enough planes to carry them. Barely two months after Lindbergh arrived in Paris, G. P. Putnam's Sons published his 318-page autobiography "WE" , which
17854-497: The land was built over as an industrial park, and no trace of the airport remained. This article about an airport in Massachusetts is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, author, and military officer. On May 20–21, 1927, he made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris ,
18012-485: The long flight over featureless ocean. On arriving at Paris, Lindbergh "circled the Eiffel Tower" before flying to the airfield. He flew over the crowd at Le Bourget Aerodrome at 10:16 and landed at 10:22 PM on Saturday, May 21 , on the far side of the field and "nearly half a mile from the crowd," as reported by The New York Times . The airfield was not marked on his map and Lindbergh knew only that it
18170-444: The massive crowd "swept over the guard lines" and forced him to circle the airfield "while police battled the crowd," and "not until 10 minutes later had they cleared a space large enough" for him to land. Police reserves were sent to the airfield in "large numbers," but it was not enough to contain the multitude. As the plane came to a stop, the crowd "waved American flags, smashed fences and knocked down police," while Lindbergh himself
18328-523: The middle of his sophomore year. From an early age, Lindbergh had exhibited an interest in the mechanics of motorized transportation, including his family's Saxon Six automobile, and later his Excelsior motorbike. By the time that he started college as a mechanical engineering student, he had also become fascinated with flying, though he "had never been close enough to a plane to touch it". After quitting college in February 1922, Lindbergh enrolled at
18486-478: The need for Germany to secure its frontiers. Schuschnigg scheduled a plebiscite regarding Austrian independence for 13 March, but Hitler sent an ultimatum to Schuschnigg on 11 March demanding that he hand over all power to the Austrian Nazi Party or face an invasion. German troops entered Austria the next day, to be greeted with enthusiasm by the populace. The Republic of Czechoslovakia was home to
18644-407: The new route. On two occasions, combinations of bad weather, equipment failure, and fuel exhaustion forced him to bail out on night approach to Chicago ; both times he reached the ground without serious injury. In mid-February 1927 he left for San Diego , California, to oversee design and construction of the Spirit of St. Louis . In 1919, British aviators John Alcock and Arthur Brown won
18802-643: The newly designated 278-mile (447 km) Contract Air Mail Route #2 (CAM-2) to provide service between St. Louis and Chicago (Maywood Field) with intermediate stops in Springfield and Peoria, Illinois . Lindbergh and three other RAC pilots flew the mail over CAM-2 in a fleet of four modified war-surplus de Havilland DH-4s . On April 13 , 1926, Lindbergh executed the United States Post Office Department 's Oath of Mail Messengers, and two days later he opened service on
18960-516: The next few months barnstorming across Nebraska , Kansas , Colorado , Wyoming , and Montana as a wing walker and parachutist . He also briefly worked as an airplane mechanic at the Billings, Montana, municipal airport . Lindbergh left flying with the onset of winter and returned to his father's home in Minnesota. His return to the air and his first solo flight did not come until half
19118-534: The number of planes quadrupled. President Herbert Hoover appointed Lindbergh to the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics . Lindbergh and Pan American World Airways head Juan Trippe were interested in developing an air route across Alaska and Siberia to China and Japan. In the summer of 1931, with Trippe's support, Lindbergh and his wife flew from Long Island to Nome, Alaska , and from there to Siberia, Japan and China. The flight
19276-532: The pilot. A few weeks after leaving Americus, he made his first night flight near Lake Village, Arkansas . While Lindbergh was barnstorming in Lone Rock, Wisconsin , on two occasions he flew a local physician across the Wisconsin River to emergency calls that were otherwise unreachable because of flooding. He broke his propeller several times while landing, and on June 3 , 1923 he was grounded for
19434-497: The plan, as Germany was not yet ready for war. The crisis led to war preparations by Britain, Czechoslovakia, and France (Czechoslovakia's ally). Attempting to avoid war, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain arranged a series of meetings, the result of which was the Munich Agreement , signed on 29 September 1938. The Czechoslovak government was forced to accept the Sudetenland's annexation into Germany. Chamberlain
19592-408: The plane "was wheeled into position on the runway," the rain ceased and light began to break through the "low-hanging clouds." A crowd variously described as "nearly a thousand" or "several thousand" assembled to see Lindbergh off. For its transatlantic flight, the Spirit was loaded with 450 U.S. gallons (1,700 liters) of fuel that was filtered repeatedly to avoid fuel line blockage. The fuel load
19750-423: The plane, providing guard as it was "wheeled into a shed." Lindbergh met the U.S. Ambassador to France , Myron T. Herrick , across Le Bourget field in a "little room with a few chairs and an army cot." The lights in the room were turned off to conceal his presence from the frenzied crowd, which "surged madly" trying to find him. Lindbergh shook hands with Herrick and handed him several letters he had carried across
19908-606: The provisions of the Reichstag Fire Decree to keep several Social Democratic deputies from attending, and the Communists had already been banned. The Enabling Act would subsequently serve as the legal foundation for the dictatorship the Nazis established. On 10 May, the government seized the assets of the Social Democrats, and they were banned on 22 June. On 21 June, the SA raided the offices of
20066-536: The several decorations authorized by Federal law will be awarded for the same act of heroism or extraordinary achievement" (Lindbergh was recognized for the same act with both the Medal of Honor and the Distinguished Flying Cross). The statute authorizing the award was also criticized for apparently violating procedure; House legislators reportedly neglected to have their votes counted. Lindbergh
20224-515: The stock market in the United States crashed in 1929 , the effect in Germany was dire. Millions were thrown out of work and several major banks collapsed. Hitler and the Nazis prepared to take advantage of the emergency to gain support for their party. They promised to strengthen the economy and provide jobs. Many voters decided the Nazi Party was capable of restoring order, quelling civil unrest, and improving Germany's international reputation. After
20382-582: The total German war dead range from 5.5 to 6.9 million persons. A study by German historian Rüdiger Overmans puts the number of German military dead and missing at 5.3 million, including 900,000 men conscripted from outside of Germany's 1937 borders. Richard Overy estimated in 2014 that about 353,000 civilians were killed in Allied air raids. Other civilian deaths include 300,000 Germans (including Jews) who were victims of Nazi political, racial, and religious persecution and 200,000 who were murdered in
20540-421: The use of police powers, and by taking control of the state and federal institutions. The first major Nazi concentration camp , initially for political prisoners, was opened at Dachau in 1933. Hundreds of camps of varying size and function were created by the end of the war. Beginning in April 1933, scores of measures defining the status of Jews and their rights were instituted. These measures culminated in
20698-494: The war drew to a close. Suicide rates in Germany increased, particularly in areas where the Red Army was advancing. Among soldiers and party personnel, suicide was often deemed an honourable and heroic alternative to surrender. First-hand accounts and propaganda about the uncivilised behaviour of the advancing Soviet troops caused panic among civilians on the Eastern Front, especially women, who feared being raped. More than
20856-472: The world, so at each stop Lindbergh switched to another of the three planes he and his fellow CAM-2 pilots had used, so it could be said that each cover had been flown by him. The covers were then backstamped and returned to their senders as a promotion of the air mail service. In 1929–1931, Lindbergh carried much smaller numbers of souvenir covers on the first flights over routes in Latin America and
21014-499: Was 3:00 PM. Flying over Dingle Bay, the Spirit was "2.5 hours ahead of schedule and less than 3 miles (5 km) off course." Lindbergh had navigated "almost precisely to the coastal point he had marked on his chart." He wanted to reach the French coast in daylight, so increased his speed to 110 miles per hour (180 km/h). The English coast appeared ahead of him, and he was "now wide awake." A report came from Plymouth , on
21172-457: Was a Nazi sympathizer, although Lindbergh never publicly stated support for the Nazis and condemned them several times in both his public speeches and personal diary. However, he supported the isolationist America First Committee and resigned from the U.S. Army Air Corps in April 1941 after President Franklin Roosevelt publicly rebuked him for his views. In September 1941, Lindbergh gave
21330-494: Was a powerful ally, the relationship was distant, with little co-ordination or co-operation. For example, Germany refused to share their formula for synthetic oil from coal until late in the war. Germany invaded Poland and captured the Free City of Danzig on 1 September 1939, beginning World War II in Europe. Honouring their treaty obligations, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. Poland fell quickly, as
21488-475: Was a thousand pounds heavier than any the Spirit had lifted during a test flight, and the fully loaded airplane weighed 5,200 pounds (2,400 kg; 2.6 short tons). With takeoff hampered by a muddy, rain-soaked runway, the plane was "helped by men pushing at the wing struts," with the last man leaving the wings only one hundred yards (90 m) down the runway. The Spirit gained speed very slowly during its 7:52 AM takeoff, but cleared telephone lines at
21646-540: Was carried out with a Lockheed Model 8 Sirius named Tingmissartoq . The route was not available for commercial service until after World War II, as prewar aircraft lacked the range to fly Alaska to Japan nonstop, and the United States had not officially recognized the Soviet government. In China they volunteered to help in disaster investigation and relief efforts for the Central China flood of 1931 . This
21804-456: Was chosen as the chief pilot, but Thompson died in an air crash before the airport was complete. The field, located in Seekonk at Route 6 and what is now Industrial Way, featured two crossed, unpaved runways. Later, a single hangar was built, with the name “Providence Airport” painted on the roof. Providence Airport was closed sometime between 1951 and 1954. At some point between 1963 and 1995
21962-501: Was conquered by the Soviet Union from the east and the other Allies from the west, and capitulated on 8 May 1945. Hitler's refusal to admit defeat led to massive destruction of German infrastructure and additional war-related deaths in the closing months of the war. The Allies initiated a policy of denazification and put many of the surviving Nazi leadership on trial for war crimes at the Nuremberg trials . Common English terms for
22120-429: Was described as "grinning and serene" amid the "seething" crowd. The United Press reported that a "man's leg was broken in the crush," and another man fell from atop a hangar and suffered internal injuries. English officials were reportedly "surprised" by the enthusiasm of the welcome. A limousine pulled near the Spirit , escorting Lindbergh to a tower on the field where he responded to the cheering crowd. "All I can say
22278-442: Was donated by RAC. The total of $ 18,000 was far less than what was available to Lindbergh's rivals. The group tried to buy an "off-the-peg" single or multiengine monoplane from Wright Aeronautical , then Travel Air , and finally the newly formed Columbia Aircraft Corporation , but all insisted on selecting the pilot as a condition of sale. Finally the much smaller Ryan Aircraft Company of San Diego agreed to design and build
22436-417: Was dropped. Germany was now a totalitarian state with Hitler at its head. As head of state, Hitler became Supreme Commander of the armed forces. The new law provided an altered loyalty oath for servicemen so that they affirmed loyalty to Hitler personally rather than the office of supreme commander or the state. On 19 August, the merger of the presidency with the chancellorship was approved by 90 per cent of
22594-412: Was finished on May 21 itself, and was "performed to great acclaim in several Manhattan clubs" that night. After landing, Lindbergh was eager to embark on a tour of Europe. As he noted in a speech a few weeks afterward, his flight marked the first time he "had ever been abroad," and he "landed with the expectancy, and the hope, of being able to see Europe." The morning after landing, Lindbergh appeared in
22752-427: Was flying at 10,000 feet (3,000 m). A towering thunderhead stood in front of him, and he flew into the cloud, but turned back after he noticed ice forming on the plane. While inside the cloud, Lindbergh "thrust a bare hand through the cockpit window," and felt the "sting of ice particles." After returning to open sky, he "curved back to his course." At 11:52 PM, Lindbergh was in warmer air, and no ice remained on
22910-425: Was flying quite low between the hills near St. John's." The Times also observed that Lindbergh was "following the track of Hawker and Greeve and also of Alcock and Brown ". Stars appeared as night fell around 8:00 PM. The sea became obscured by fog, prompting Lindbergh to climb "from an altitude of 800 feet (240 m) to 7,500 feet (2,300 m) to stay above the quickly-rising cloud." An hour later, he
23068-641: Was good, and food supplies remained adequate in Western Europe. Germany and Europe as a whole were almost totally dependent on foreign oil imports. In an attempt to resolve the shortage, in June 1942 Germany launched Fall Blau ("Case Blue"), an offensive against the Caucasian oilfields. The Red Army launched a counter-offensive on 19 November and encircled the Axis forces, who were trapped in Stalingrad on 23 November. Göring assured Hitler that
23226-526: Was greeted with cheers when he landed in London, saying the agreement brought "peace for our time". Austrian and Czech foreign exchange reserves were seized by the Nazis, as were stockpiles of raw materials such as metals and completed goods such as weaponry and aircraft, which were shipped to Germany. The Reichswerke Hermann Göring industrial conglomerate took control of steel and coal production facilities in both countries. In January 1934, Germany signed
23384-642: Was honored as the first Time magazine Man of the Year (now called "Person of the Year") when he appeared on that magazine's cover at age 25 on January 2 , 1928; he remained the youngest Time Person of the Year until Greta Thunberg in 2019. The winner of the 1930 Best Woman Aviator of the Year Award, Elinor Smith Sullivan , said that before Lindbergh's flight: People seemed to think we [aviators] were from outer space or something. But after Charles Lindbergh's flight, we could do no wrong. It's hard to describe
23542-415: Was in violation of the Versailles Treaty. On 17 May 1933, Hitler gave a speech before the Reichstag outlining his desire for world peace and accepted an offer from American President Franklin D. Roosevelt for military disarmament, provided the other nations of Europe did the same. When the other European powers failed to accept this offer, Hitler pulled Germany out of the World Disarmament Conference and
23700-441: Was later documented in Anne's book North to the Orient . Lindbergh used his world fame to promote air mail service. For example, at the request of Basil L. Rowe, the owner of West Indian Aerial Express (and later Pan Am 's chief pilot), in February, 1928, he carried some 3,000 pieces of special souvenir mail between Santo Domingo, Dominican Repulic ; Port-au-Prince, Haiti ; and Havana, Cuba —the last three stops he and
23858-432: Was not prepared to fight should be court-martialed, and thousands of people were executed. In many areas, people surrendered to the approaching Allies in spite of exhortations of local leaders to continue to fight. Hitler ordered the destruction of transport, bridges, industries, and other infrastructure—a scorched earth decree—but Armaments Minister Albert Speer prevented this order from being fully carried out. During
24016-464: Was promoted to the rank of colonel in the Air Corps of the Officers Reserve Corps of the U.S. Army . On December 14 , 1927, a Special Act of Congress awarded Lindbergh the Medal of Honor , despite the fact that it was almost always awarded for heroism in combat. It was presented to Lindbergh by President Coolidge at the White House on March 21 , 1928. The medal contradicted Coolidge's earlier executive order directing that "not more than one of
24174-487: Was seven years old. His father, a U.S. Congressman from 1907 to 1917, was one of the few congressmen to oppose the entry of the U.S. into World War I (although his congressional term ended one month before the House of Representatives voted to declare war on Germany ). Lindbergh's mother was a chemistry teacher at Cass Technical High School in Detroit and later at Little Falls High School , from which her son graduated on June 5 , 1918. Lindbergh attended more than
24332-419: Was some seven miles northeast of the city; he initially mistook it for some large industrial complex because of the bright lights spreading out in all directions—in fact the headlights of tens of thousands of spectators' cars caught in "the largest traffic jam in Paris history" in their attempt to be present for Lindbergh's landing. A crowd estimated at 150,000 stormed the field, dragged Lindbergh out of
24490-489: Was succeeded by Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz as Reich President and Goebbels as Reich Chancellor. Goebbels and his wife Magda committed suicide the next day after murdering their six children . Between 4 and 8 May 1945, most of the remaining German armed forces unconditionally surrendered. The German Instrument of Surrender was signed 8 May, marking the end of the Nazi regime and the end of World War II in Europe . Popular support for Hitler almost completely disappeared as
24648-433: Was the first of 15 books he eventually wrote or to which he made significant contributions. The company was run by aviation enthusiast George P. Putnam . The dustjacket notes said that Lindbergh wanted to share the "story of his life and his transatlantic flight together with his views on the future of aviation", and that "WE" referred to the "spiritual partnership" that had developed "between himself and his airplane during
24806-502: Was the fourth nation to join the Axis, signing the Tripartite Pact on 27 September 1940. Bulgaria signed the pact on 17 November. German efforts to secure oil included negotiating a supply from their new ally, Romania , who signed the Pact on 23 November, alongside the Slovak Republic. By late 1942, there were 24 divisions from Romania on the Eastern Front, 10 from Italy, and 10 from Hungary. Germany assumed full control in France in 1942, Italy in 1943, and Hungary in 1944. Although Japan
24964-410: Was the guest of honor at a 500-guest banquet and dance held at Clarence MacKay 's Long Island estate, Harbor Hill . The following night, Lindbergh was honored with a grand banquet at the Hotel Commodore given by the Mayor's Committee on Receptions of the City of New York and attended by some 3,700 people. He was officially awarded the check for the prize on June 16 . On July 18, 1927, Lindbergh
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