| Date
| Charles Lindbergh Event
|
| 1859 |
Father, Charles A. Lindbergh, Sr. is born in Sweden family emigrates to the United States. |
| 1883 |
Father graduates from University of Michigan Law School; settles in Little Falls, Minnesota |
| 1887 |
Father marries Mary LaFond |
| 1898 |
Mary Lindbergh dies |
| 1901 |
Father marries Evangeline Land. Evangeline was schooled at the prestigious Liggett Academy, she graduated from the University of Michigan in 1899. Fellow classmates remembered her as the "prettiest girl on campus." Evangeline, who had her mind on a career in science, later received a Master of Science degree from Columbia University. The Lands were a family of science. Her father, dentist Dr. Charles H. Land, invented the porcelain crown and later expanded his inventiveness beyond dentistry to the development of gas and oil burners for furnaces.
|
| 1902-February 4 |
Charles Lindbergh's Birth in Detroit, Michigan on the site where the David Whitney Building now stands. When it came time to give birth to her son Evangeline returned to Detroit, Michigan to be under the care of her grandfather, Dr. Edwin Lodge, a respected physician. Charles was born in his uncle Edwin's three story brownstone at 1220 West Forest.
|
| 1906 |
Father is elected to U.S. Congress |
| 1912 |
Attends his first air meet |
| 1916 |
Half sister Lillian Lindbergh Roberts dies from tuberculosis |
| 1916 |
Drives to California with his Mother |
| 1917 |
Father leaves office to oppose U.S. entry into World War I |
| 1918 |
Is excused from senior year of high school to operate family farm for war effort |
| 1918 |
Graduates from Little Falls High School, Minnesota |
| 1920 |
Enrolls in University of Wisconsin as engineering student |
| 1922-February |
Leaves college in February to become flying student at Nebraska Standard Aircraft Corporation |
| 1922-April 1 |
First flight as passenger |
| 1923- March |
Father cosigned for a $900 bank loan for Charles to buy a surplus army airplane. In March 1923 he spent $500 for a war-surplus Curtiss "Jenny" with a 90-horsepower engine, a creaky, tattered plane that could fly only 70 miles an hour at top speed, and could only slowly climb to seventeen hundred feet.
|
| 1922-April 9 |
First solo flight. No flying license was required in those days, so making sure he had a full fuel tank, he lifted the rickety Jenny off the ground for his first solo. His lengthy passenger experience, all the while paying sharp attention to everything that happened to create flight, and his innate skills got him into the air and safely back to the ground on several takeoffs and landings. However, he once almost crashed the Jenny by lifting off too soon and then bounced so hard the landing gear was almost wrecked. He rarely made the same mistake twice and at day's end he had mastered his plane's many quirks and learned flight under his control. Now he could fly anywhere he chose. |
| 1924 |
Enlists as U.S. Army flying cadet |
| 1924-May |
Father dies |
| 1925- March 5 |
First emergency jump! It was from an open cockpit, single-seat SE-5 scout biplane, on March 5, 1925 as a student pilot at Kelly Field, near San Antonio, Texas. Lindbergh and another cadet on a training mission had a midair collision at about 5,000 feet as they attacked a DH4B "enemy" bomber. In their dive on the bomber several hundred feet below, Lindbergh, after seeing no other plane near, pulled up and jumped. His excerpted official report noted: "I passed above the DH and a moment later felt a slight jolt, followed by a crash." Lindbergh wrote about parachutes and military flying: "There is a saying in the service about the parachute: 'If you need it and haven't got it, you'll never need it again!' That just about sums up its value to aviation."
|
| 1925 |
Graduates first in class from U.S. Air Service Flying School, Kelly Field, San Antonio; is commissioned second lieutenant in Air Service Reserve Corps; becomes Chief Pilot, Robertson Aircraft Co., St. Louis |
| 1925- June 2 |
Charles Lindbergh made his second emergency jump.
Performing spins, the aircraft failed to respond to the pilot's insistent, forceful attempts to recover. Instead, it plummeted to earth, twisting and turning. Some observers said the flier and the careering plane separated at 250 feet. Lindbergh was more conservative in his estimate. He thought it was higher; in his of ficial report stated the height at 350 feet.Charles dislocated his shoulder in the landing. After medical treatment, Lindbergh was again flying within two hours.
|
| 1925- November |
Lindbergh enlisted in the 110th Observation Squadron, 35th Division, Missouri National Guard, and was promoted to first lieutenant .
|
| 1926- Winter |
Spent the winter months instructing students, teaching how to fly the OX-5 and test flying in the Robertson company's commercial service.
|
| 1926-April |
Makes first Chicago-to-St. Louis airmail flight. William and Frank Robertson get the airmail route between St. Louis and Chicago and “Slim” Lindbergh is off and flying — and crashing, on occasion. Army pilots called the airmail planes “flying coffins.” |
| 1926-September 16 |
Chief Pilot Lindbergh was on a mail flight on September 16, 1926 when he made an emergency jump at night in a blinding snow and rain storm because his plane ran out of fuel after he became lost in darkness and violent weather, after more than two hours of rigorous flying.
The plane crashed about two miles from where Lindbergh landed, but the mail was undamaged, recovered, and delivered. When the wreckage was inspected a few days later, it was discovered that a 110-gallon fuel tank removed for repair had been replaced with an 85-gallon tank without anyone (particularly the pilot) being notified of the change. |
| 1926-November 3 |
Makes fourth emergency parachute jump! Lindbergh landed on a barbed wire fence but his heavy flying suit prevented injury. However, for several anxious moments he struggled with the parachute canopy being kept inflated by gusts of wind. Mail, much of it oil-soaked, was recovered from the wrecked airplane and delivered. |
| Feb. 25, 1927 |
Lindbergh signs the order with Ryan Aeronautical Co., San Diego, for the purchase of a monoplane, the Spirit of St. Louis. It cost $10,580.
|
| 1927-April 28 |
First test flight of the Spirit of St. Louis |
| May 10-11, 1927 |
On May 10-11, 1927, Lindbergh tested the Spirit of St. Louis by flying from San Diego to New York City, with an overnight stop in St. Louis. The flight took 20 hours 21 minutes, a transcontinental record.
|
| 1927-May 20, (6:52 AM EST) |
Departs Roosevelt Field, Long Island, New York for Paris |
| 1927-May 21, (5:22 PM EST) |
Arrives Le Bourget Aerodrome, Paris after 33 hours, 29 minutes, and 30 seconds. Lindbergh lands at Paris' Le Bourget airfield, becoming the first pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
|
| June 11, 1927 |
Lindbergh and the Spirit of St Louis returned to the United States aboard the U.S.S. Memphis on June 11, 1927.
|
| June 16, 1927 |
Raymond Orteig awards the $25,000 Orteig prize.
|
| June 18, 1927 |
Triumphant Lindbergh returns to St. Louis and is greeted with a huge parade in his honor.
|
| 1927 |
Tours the U.S. with Spirit of St. Louis making 82 stops in 48 states; makes first nonstop flight from Washington to Mexico City; is awarded Medal of Honor by act of Congress. |
| 1928 |
Completes air tour of Latin America; begins service as consultant to Transcontinental Air Transport and to Pan American Airways. |
| 1928-January 24 |
From an unknown newspaper dated 24 January 1928.
LINDBERGH TAKES DIVE IN SUBMARINE OFF COCO SOLO: Col. Charles A. Lindbergh yesterday afternoon took a nose dive. It was not, however, in an airplane but in the O-9, one of the big submarines based at Coco Solo. The Lone Eagle was taken on a cruise around the harbor under a very choppy sea and it was said he showed a great deal of interest in the operation of the big undersea ship. The flying colonel was the guest of Captain Ward Wortmann, commandant of the submarine base. Others in the party were Lieutenant Commander W.A. Heard and Lieutenant Robert W. Douglass, Junior, his aide. This ship was commanded by Lieutenant J.T. Acree. The vessel left the Coco Solo landing at 1:45 and cruised around for about an hour.
|
| 1928-April 30 |
Last flight in the Spirit of St. Louis from Lambert Field, St. Louis to Bolling Field, Washington, D.C. (Spirit of St. Louis total flying time 789 hours, 28 minutes.) |
| 1929-May 27 |
Lindbergh marries Anne Morrow, the shy daughter of Dwight Morrow, U.S. ambassador to Mexico.
|
| 1929 |
Lindbergh helps found Transcontinental & Western Air (T&WA), later Trans World Airlines.
Lindbergh works with Robert Hutchings Goddard on the development of rockets. |
| 1930-June 22 |
Birth of 1st Baby, Charles Lindbergh Jr. |
| 1930-34 |
Develops perfusion pump with Dr. Alexis Carrel |
| 1931 |
Makes flight across North Pacific to China with Anne. (Lockheed Sirius) |
| 1932-March 1 |
Lindbergh baby kidnapped from Hopewell, New Jersey home. The Lindberghs' firstborn, Charles A. Lindbergh Jr., is kidnapped and murdered. The trial, nicknamed “The trial of the century,” is a media circus. Bruno Richard Hauptmann is convicted and executed.
|
| 1932 |
Jon Lindbergh is born |
| 1935-December |
The Lindberghs became exiles in England |
| 1936-April 3-8:44 PM |
Bruno Richard Hauptmann executed in Trenton, NJ state prison |
| 1936 |
Makes first of five trips to Germany to investigate and evaluate air power. |
| 1937 |
Land Lindbergh is born |
| 1937 |
Flies to India with Anne |
| 1938 |
Moves to Illiec Island, off the coast of France |
| 1938- April 27 |
Meeting with Colonel Scanlon (Assistant Military Attache for Air in the U.S. Embassy in London) and Colonel Lee (Military Attache for Air in the U.S. Embassy in London) about Englands miltary weakness compared to Germany's strength and modern war tactics and instruments. |
| 1938- April 29 |
Anne and Charles lunch with his Highness the Maharaja of Baroda and the Maharanee. |
| 1938- May 5 |
Anne and Charles lunch with Lord and Lady Astor, Mr. Mrs. George Bernard Shaw, Ambassador Joseph Kennedy (Great Britain), Ambassador William C. Bullitt (France). Charles states, "Kennedy interested me greatly. He is not the usual type of politician or diplomat." The conversation at the table is about aviation and military issues. |
| 1938- May 23 |
Anne and Charles have dinner at Lord and Lady Astor home with King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, Duke and Duchess of Kent, and others. Charles speaks to the Queen about the aviation and the troubles of the world. |
| 1938 |
Lindbergh accepts the German Eagle from Hermann Goering, the Nazis' second in command. Lindbergh's reputation is sullied; questions are raised about his loyalty.
|
| 1939-April |
Returns to United States |
| 1939-41 |
Speaks against U.S. intervention in war in Europe. The isolationist America First Party is formed; Lindbergh is a frequent speaker.
|
| 1940 |
Anne Lindbergh is born |
| 1941 |
Joins the America First Committee, an organization that opposed voluntary American entry into World War II. |
| 1941 |
Resigns Air Corps commission, then is denied reinstatement after U.S. enters World War II |
| 1942-April 3 |
Departs for Detroit, Michigan to work for FORD builing B-24 Liberator Bombers. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor sank both ships and isolationist aspirations. It placed Lindbergh in a quandary but in a patriotic spirit he offered to aid the U.S. by returning to the Air Corps. The Administration refused his services and then, in a mean spirited mood, forced Lindbergh's many aviation employers to cancel his advisory positions, including Juan Trippes' Pan American Airways. Only one man resisted that move, Henry Ford, and Lindbergh went to work for him on 3 April 1942 as a technical consultant helping Ford convert from auto to bomber production.
Henry Ford, who himself had been labeled anti-Semitic and pro-German, contacted Lindbergh and invited him to work at his Willow Run B-24 bomber factory. The B-24 was being refitted for mass production. Lindbergh worked on the redesign of the nose and the gun mount.
While working at the plant he was impressed by the high quality of work produced by the women workers and their high moral character, compared to some of the male employees. At its peak in 1943, the plant had 42,331 workers and by 1944, 650 B-24 bombers were rolling off the line every month.
Of his tenure at Willow Run, Lindbergh later wrote, "I would have viewed the Willow Run bomber production line as a marvelous feat of engineering. I would have felt proud of even the small part I had in bringing it into being. Now, it seemed a terrible giant's womb, growling, clanging, giving birth to robots which were killing people by the thousands each day as they destroyed the culture of Europe....This was a temple of the god of science at which we moderns worshiped....Here I watched a steel door lift and an airplane roll outside; while, in reality, the walls of a cathedral fell and children died."
|
| 1942 |
Tests effects of altitude at Mayo Clinic- Rochester, Minnesota |
| 1942-August 12 |
Scott Lindbergh is born |
| 1944-January |
Plans to leave for South Pacific as a civilian tech rep. He would go to the Pacific, as a civilian technical assistant. Neither the White House nor even Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox knew of this trip. |
| 1944-April 22 |
Leaves for South Pacific to fly 50 combat missions as a civilian tech rep |
| 1945 |
Reeve Lindbergh is born |
| 1945 |
Is member of naval techical mission to study Germany's missle and aircraft developments |
| 1946 |
Is consultant for University of Chicago Ordnance Research Project |
| 1947-54 |
Serves as special advisor to Air Forces |
| 1949 |
Is awarded Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy |
| 1954 |
Wins Pulitzer Prize winner for The Spirit of St. Louis
|
| 1954 |
Recieves the Guggenheim Medal
|
| 1954 |
President Dwight D. Eisenhower restored Lindbergh's commission and appointed him a brigadier general in the Air Force
|
| 1954 |
Evangeline Land Lindbergh died. Services were held at the Orchard Lake Community Church,where Evangeline's grandfather often preached.
|
| April 11, 1957 |
The movie “Spirit of St. Louis,” starring Jimmy Stewart, premieres in Hollywood.
|
| 1954-74 |
Goes on conservation and wildlife preservation expeditions. |
| July 1964 |
Lindbergh becomes a leader of conservationist causes. He would later say, “If I had to choose between planes and birds, I'd choose birds.”
|
| 1965 |
Redesigns perfusion pump for Naval Medical Research Institute |
| 1966-1972 |
Serves on World Wildlife Board of Trustees |
| 1968 |
Addresses Alaska Legislature, first public speech in twenty-seven years. |
| 1969-1972 |
Is member of Citizens Advisory Committee on Environmental Quality |
| 1974-August 26 |
Lindbergh dies of cancer at his island retreat in Maui, Hawaii.
Lindbergh died of lymphatic cancer at the age of 72. He spent his last years in quiet seclusion in a small cottage on the tranquil island of Maui. Following his request, he was buried in his work clothing: his favorite plaid shirt, khaki pants, and a Hudson's Bay blanket he had once brought from Canada for his mother. Private services were held in the Palapala Ho'omau church.
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin headlined his departure "EAGLE'S FINAL FLIGHT IN PRIVACY".
|
| 1985
|
Half sister Eva Lindbergh Christie Spaeth passes away. |
| 1993
|
Anne Spencer Lindbergh , eldest daughter of Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, died of cancer in 1993 at the age of 53. Anne Spencer Lindbergh was an acclaimed author of juvenile fantasies which place ordinary children in extraordinary situations. Nick of Time, The People in Pineapple Place, Three Lives to Live and The Worry Week are a few of her more well-known books.
|
| February 7, 2001
|
Anne Morrow Lindbergh dies at 94 in her rural Vermont home. |
