Louie Mattar’s Cadillac, the Car That Has Everything, 1952

Louie Mattar, a San Diego garage owner with a big imagination, who turned his 1947 Cadillac into a how-to guide for four-wheeled DIYers everywhere. When he bought a brand new Cadillac four years ago, the extra equipment his dealer offered was not enough and Mattar started to add a weird assortment of things that other motorists can only dream of.

Doing most of the work himself, he put in a shower, coiling the pipes from his 50-gallon water tanks around the exhaust manifold for the hot water. A pumping system was crammed under the hood. Next to the taillight went a drinking fountain and under the dashboard a tape recorder and a bar with spigots for whisky, water and soda. In the back seat he put a washing machine, a stove and even included a kitchen sink. All this took four years to do and cost Mattar better than $14,000.

Later that year, in Sept. 1952, Mattar’s ultra-tricked-out Caddy set a world endurance non-stop record (since eclipsed) when three drivers, working in shifts, traveled round-trip from San Diego to New York and back — 6,300 miles — in one week. It later traveled — virtually non-stop, due to Mattar’s innovations that allowed it to refuel while driving, etc. — from Anchorage, Alaska, to Mexico City.

The car, along with a trailer, which Mattar also custom made, is now in the San Diego Automotive Museum in Balboa Park.

Louis Mattar with his 1947 Cadillac, San Diego, 1952.

Louis Mattar pulls the makings of a meal from the trunk of his heavily modified 1947 Cadillac.

Washing is done by small machine in back seat. Two batteries provide extra electricity.

Louis Mattar hangs washing from his heavily modified 1947 Cadillac.

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Fascinating Vintage TV Set Ads From the 1960s to 1970s

Television is the first audiovisual device that changed the way people see entertainment. It opened the realm of recreation and mass communication. It alllowed people and families to watch live events in the comforts of their drawing room.



To attract buyers, numerous fascinating advertisements were launched. Take a look through a handful of vintage television set advertisements from France, Germany, Spain, Yugoslavia, Australia and more – all from the ‘60s and ‘70s.

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Eye of Tomorrow: French Film From 1947 Predicted Our Addiction to Smartphones in the 21st Century

Télévision: Oeil de Demain (“Television: Eye of Tomorrow”) predicted that some day in the future everyone would be walking around looking at personal handheld screens.

 

J.K. Raymond-Millet’s 1947 film may have been far ahead of its time, it seemingly predicted how we would use smartphones in the 21st century. It was not intended to be a feature length film, but rather one used for educational purposes.

In addition to showing people using miniature-television devices in public places, the full clip also showcases professional meetings conducted via picture-phones, cars equipped with television screens, and shops promoting their goods on television.

(via The Flighter)

Did You Know? The Default Profile Image on Microsoft Outlook in 2010 Was Actually Bill Gates’ 1977 Mug Shot

Bill Gates is staring at users every time they launch Outlook 2010.

The People Pane was more of a contact hub that included all the information about users sending your emails, and everything was grouped in a single UI. For example, clicking on a contact displayed the emails that you received, as well as appointments, contact data, social network details and much more.

Basically, the People Pane was supposed to make contact management a smoother process, as it brought all the information on a specific person in just one place.

Outlook 2010 People Pane

In Outlook 2010, it was actually Microsoft founder Bill Gates the one whose silhouette was used for the generic photo. And it’s not just a typical photo of Bill Gates, but the mug shot that he got after being arrested back in 1977.

As weird as it may sound, yes, Bill Gates was arrested for reckless driving in New Mexico in 1977, so the police took his mug shot for their records. The young Gates was caught not only speeding in his Porsche but also running a stop sign and - drum roll - driving without a license. He was eventually arrested, but released shortly after that, though very little details are known about this.

Bill Gates was photographed by the Albuquerque, New Mexico police in 1977 after a traffic violation (details of which have been lost over time).

No confirmation from Microsoft has ever been offered on this, despite the obvious evidence that seems to indicate this is the case. Since then, Microsoft has switched to other generic photos for its apps, so Outlook 2010 was the only version that featured Bill Gates’ mug shot for the People Pane.

Candid Photographs Captured People Living a Normal Life With Mummies in Venzone, Italy in 1950

The inhabitants of Venzone, Italy with their ancient mummy relatives in 1950 by Jack Birns for LIFE magazine. It was believed that so many people died from the Black Death that they couldn’t fit all the bodies in the cemetery and simply decided to live with their remains.

In a Venzone, a commune in the Province of Udine in the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, people were living with mummies. The people in that village lived a normal life with the mummies. They drank tee with the mummies, they ate together, went to the church, and slept. The people, living with the mummies were not something gross and strange. The mummies are their ancestors that lived in the village a long time ago.

In the 14th century, the Black Death swept the Venzone village. Many people died but did not have enough cemeteries to bury all the bodies. By this, the villagers put the 42 dead bodies that couldn’t be buried in the graveyard into a coffin and stored in the basement of the chapel of San Michael.

300 years later in 1647, the old chapel of San Michael was to be planned to be rebuilt, so the coffins in the basement had to be moved. However, when they opened the coffin, the 42 dead bodies were mummified. By this, the people believed that it was the God’s will to send their ancestors alive to them to protect the village (As at this time, they did not know what ‘mummy’ was). After this, the villagers asked for help for any hardship and wished good luck to the mummies. The mummies were treated very well as the elders in the village. And this tradition lasted till 1950. The mummies were the ancestors that the villagers had to cherish.

No one knew about this village’s tradition for a long time as the town was at the east end, isolated from other cities. One day, accidentally, an American photographer name Jack Birns was lost in the Alps mountain and needed a place to stay for the night. Jack fled into the Venzone village and saw this bizarre scene, an old man drinking tea with a mummy. He took pictures of the villagers daily life with the mummies and published on the Time magazine, Life. The photos of the mummies from Venzone village became a phenomenon throughout the world.

As the Venzone mummies were revealed to the world, people started to wonder how the mummies became naturally mummified. For a mummy, it is essential to remove all the organs in the body and the embalming treatment to prevent from desiccation. Without these treatments, there are exceptional cases of becoming a mummy as whether the weather is extremely cold or dry. However, the mummies from Venzone did not go through the process of preservation and been wholly neglected in the humid basement, the dead bodies became mummified. There have been other studies that the bodies became mummies from some germs. However, the villagers do not care how the bodies became mummified. They believe that the mummies, ancestors, are the will of God.

After the earthquake in 1976, there have been only 15 mummies prevented. Now for the protection of the mummies, they are kept in the Crypt of the Cemetery Chapel of Saint Michael (XIII century) located in S. Andrea Apostolo Cathedral churchyard.

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Failed Attempt to Build an Early Helicopter, 1915

Man sitting in early helicopter invention, ‘Sky Car’, in January 1915. Umbrella style wing makes the Sky Car bounce up and down on the ground.

(Footage by Getty Images)

Charles Reid Barnes Standing on a Cactus, 1908

Charles Reid Barnes (1858–1910) standing on a cactus, near Tehuacan, Mexico. The photo was taken by his laboratory assistant Mr. Land in November 1908.

(Courtesy of The Archives of the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University)

Charles Reid Barnes was an American botanist specializing in bryophytes (mosses, liverworts and hornworts). He was co-editor of the Botanical Gazette for over 25 years.

Barnes was born at Madison, Indiana, September 7, 1858. He graduated from Hanover College in 1877, and afterward studied at Harvard University, where he became friends with Asa Gray. After teaching in public schools for a few years, he became professor of botany at Purdue University in 1882. In 1887 he was called to the University of Wisconsin, and for eleven years developed and maintained a vigorous department of botany in that institution. In 1898 he became professor of plant physiology at the University of Chicago, and completed twenty-eight years as a university professor. At Hanover College he met John Merle Coulter as his instructor in botany, and from that time they became intimately associated, first as joint editors of the Botanical Gazette, and later as colleagues in the same university.

He became a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1884 and a fellow in 1885; was secretary of the botanical section in 1894, secretary of the council in 1895, general secretary in 1896, and vice-president (chairman) of the botanical section in 1898, giving his retiring address at Columbus in 1899 on “The progress and problems of plant physiology.” He was secretary of the Botanical Society of America from its organization in 1894 to 1898, and became its president in 1903, giving his retiring address at Philadelphia in 1904 on “The theory of respiration.” In 1905 he was a delegate from the botanical section of the American Association to the International Botanical Congress at Vienna.

The term ‘photosynthesis’ was coined by him in 1893.

Barnes died in Chicago, on February 24, 1910, from injuries sustained in an accidental fall.

Mechanical Secrets of Movie Gorillas in ‘King Kong’ (1933)

Ever wonder how a Hollywood make-up man converts an actor into a terrifyingly realistic gorilla in those fascinating jungle pictures you watch on the silver screen?

A study of these photos will give you an idea of what goes on behind a gorilla face. Mechanics have devised a set of mechanical facial bones and muscles which act as the skeleton for a leather “skin” which make-up men put on.

A simple set of levers on the mechanism and a strip clamping over the lower teeth enable the actor to open and close his huge gorilla jaws like the real beast of the jungle. A special strap over the eyes gives the beetle browed effect.

Since gorillas have resisted all attempts to train them for use in the movies, film producers have resorted to “synthetic” animals custom-built to fit the picture. One such animal completed recently by Max Factor Studios of Hollywood, California, is made up of an aluminum skeleton with its “bones” filled out with mohair. The body is covered with a tanned leather hide into which thousands of hairs have been knotted by wig craftsmen.

Basic and motionless portions of the gorilla’s skull also are of aluminum, but the working parts in the jaws are made of aluminum, supplemented by steel springs and pinions. Bone teeth and synthetic flesh tongue and mouth lining have a natural appearance. For skin of the gorilla’s head, smooth polished chamois is used, with hair wig-stitched in the proper locale. The “bones” of the cinema gorilla’s hand extensions are of duralumin.

The First Automated Teller Machine (ATM), 1966

This early prototype of the automated teller machine (ATM) was displayed for the first time at the American Bankers Association annual meeting in San Francisco, California on October 25, 1966. Banks of the future may have “tellers” installed in office and apartment house lobbies. Richard Glyer demonstrates how to deposit a check in one. Through the medium of automation he can talk to a teller whom he sees on the television screen. She will answer his questions, cash checks and issue currency from his account.

(AP Photo/Ernest K. Bennett)

In 1969, however, the first true ATM able to dispense cash via a magnetically encoded card appeared in a Long Island, NY, branch of Chemical Bank. Today there are 2.2 million ATMs worldwide, located everywhere from retail stores to the frozen wastes of Antarctica's McMurdo Station.

William Roentgen Demonstrates X-ray Machines at the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition in Omaha, 1898

In the late 19th century, X-rays set America’s imagination ablaze. Only three years after its discovery by William Roentgen, the mysterious radiation went on display in this free-standing pavilion at the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition of 1898 in Omaha, Nebraska.

Here, X-ray machines let attendees glimpse the interiors of everyday objects as well as their own bodies, blissfully unaware the devices were zapping them with 1,500 times as much radiation as contemporary X-ray machines. Even when their hair fell out, they embraced the rays as an early – and effective – depilatory.

The Collections of the Omaha Public Library

Panasonic MC-1000, the Very First Plastic-Bodied Vacuum Cleaner From 1965

It’s a Car! It’s a Toy! It’s a Vintage Spaceship!

Before the mid-1950s, vacuum cleaners weren’t in many Japanese homes because dusters, brooms, and floor cloths were considered adequate for cleaning traditional Japanese homes. But through extensive marketing efforts by manufacturers, Japanese-made vacuum cleaners gradually became household necessities by the 1960s – with the Panasonic MC-1000 top of the list.

Using the material of the moment – plastic – the MC-1000 was a world away from the typical, functional-looking cylindrical vacuum cleaners made from metal sheeting. Making the most of plastic’s versatile shaping potential, its elegantly flowing, curved surfaces define the aesthetics of plastic. Plastic was responsible for more than just its good looks, though – unlike vacuum cleaners constructed of sheet metal, whose machine parts had to be inserted in predetermined order, the MC-1000’s body was made of left and right pieces that simply screwed into place. Productivity was greatly increased as a result of this method, made possible by its pioneering use of plastic.

This elegant, streamlined vacuum cleaner won awards, made vacuuming easier than ever before, and ushered in the new plastic era. The first plastic-bodied vacuum cleaner, its unique front wheel gave it effortless maneuverability, making vacuuming less stressful than ever before. This bold, modern product heralded the era of plastic and set a record for vacuum cleaner production, with an astonishing 630,000 units manufactured.

The Story Behind the World’s First Underwater Photograph Taken by William Thompson in 1856

In 1856, William Thompson took the world’s first underwater photo in the Bay of Weymouth in Dorset, UK. The camera inside a housing made of wood and iron was mounted on a tripod that was lowered to a depth of 5.5 m (18 ft) by means of a rope.

First underwater photograph taken on a wet colloidion plate in 1856 by William Thompson.

Thompson got the idea while watching a wave-battered bridge from a public house. He used the collodion process to take the single photo. Total exposure time was 10 minutes during which the camera flooded. The plate was removed and rinsed in freshwater but it still produced a weak underwater photo of the bay.

Although the image was by no means a masterpiece, it was nonetheless a technical success. The world’s first underwater photo was also the first half & half image (split shot, over-under). No other attempts were made until Frenchman Louis Boutan’s experiments in 1893.

With Thompson, to think was to act. He already owned a camera which he was in the habit of using in conjunction with his natural history studies. A carpenter now made him a wooden box large enough to contain the camera. The front of the box was made of plate glass and on the outside of the front there was a heavily weighted shutter, hinged at the top, that could be raised by a long string attached to it. Thumbscrews secured the back of the box so that when the camera had been placed in it, it could be made (Thompson hoped) reasonably watertight. The box was fitted on an iron tripod and provided with a rope for lowering it into the sea and pulling it up again.

So far, so good. The box was ready. The next problem concerned the camera itself. Thompson's camera took a plate measuring 5 inches by 4 inches, which he prepared using the collodion process. This meant that the liquid chemical had to be poured on to the plate, and be exposed and developed all within a matter of an hour or so. Following the procedure usual at the time, Thompson set up a small tent, on Weymouth beach, and inside it prepared a plate and put it in his camera. He then, under cover of a black cloth, placed the camera in the box, making sure that its lens was against the plate glass, and screwed on the back.

The next step was to lower the box into the sea. For the site of his experiment Thompson chose what he described as “a nook in the bay of Weymouth which is bounded by a ridge of rocks (where the area within is of sand and boulders and thickly clothed with many species of seaweeds.”

Thompson and his friend Kenyon, having rowed out a sufficient distance from the beach, lowered the box into 18 feet of water. When he was sure that the apparatus was standing upright on the bottom, he pulled the string that raised the hinged shutter. Thompson made two attempts that day. For the first he allowed an exposure time of five minutes but found that the plate having been developed registered nothing.

For his second attempt he doubled the exposure time. Although by then the light had deteriorated, he obtained a reasonable satisfactory negative, from which he made a print on which it was possible faintly to discern the outlines of boulders and seaweed. Water had leaked into the camera but this, Thompson was pleased to see, had not seriously affected the quality of the picture. He also noted with surprise that the image had not been inverted, and came to the conclusion that the thick plate glass in front of the lens must have acted as a reversing mirror.

Thompson later designed a better apparatus, but he then lost interest and pursued the matter no further. His friend William Penney of Poole, who was a chemist, and a naturalist of some note, persuaded him to send an account of his experiment to be printed in the Journal of the Society of Arts, otherwise there would probably have been no record of it in existence today.

Although Thompson often used his camera to take still life photographs of fishes and other marine subjects that he had dredged from the bay, he thought of underwater photography only as a useful aid in underwater engineering. It is clear that he never imagined a time when future generations might be able to use a similar process to take photographs of marine life in situ. Yet some of the finest examples of underwater photographs have been taken in recent years along the Dorset coast within a few miles of the spot where, in 1856, Thompson lowered his camera into the water in a nook in Weymouth Bay.

(via British Society of Underwater Photographers)

Louis Boutan and the World's First Underwater Selfie, 1893

In 1893, Louis Boutan took an underwater self-portrait at a depth of 3 m (10 ft) using a camera known as the Detective which he inserted into a wooden housing that he designed with his brother Auguste.

Louis Boutan’s self-portrait taken with a Detective camera inserted into a wooden housing designed by himself and his brother Auguste. (Public Domain)

Before taking the photo, Boutan had to dive in hardhat gear to install the small housed camera on the sea bed by means of a custom tripod. Focusing was not required at distances under 3 m (10 ft) and plates could be changed underwater by means of a lever, i.e. the diver could take multiple photos without having to surface. In order to function properly, the housing was equipped with a compensation ‘balloon’ that equalized its internal pressure with that of the surrounding water.

Photos taken with Boutan’s first underwater camera housing normally required an exposure time of 10 to 30 minutes, which would suggest that this particular image was taken more quickly to allow for a breath-hold pose.

Louis Boutan self-portrait. (Public Domain)

Although the resulting image is highly similar to modern self-portraits, Boutan’s photo was debatably not what is nowadays known as a “selfie,” which instead refers to a self-portrait taken with a smartphone or camera held at arms length, using a selfie stick, or in front of a mirror.

On Dec. 30, 1930, the First-Ever Photo of the Earth’s Curvature Was Taken

The first photograph ever made showing the division between the troposphere and the stratosphere and also the actual curvature of the Earth.

(Image: National Geographic/Albert William Stevens)

This photo was taken by Lieutenant Colonel Albert William Stevens, who was an officer in the U.S. Army Air Corps and an aerial photographer. He also happened to be a balloonist, and he once broke a world record for a high-altitude balloon flight.

The image, taken from 72,395 feet above the surface of the Earth from a point approximately 35 miles south of Murdo, South Dakota, looks west towards the Black Hills of South Dakota, the Big Horn Mountains, and beyond. Notes rivers, mountains and some popular locations in the region.

He used infrared-sensitive film that worked well for long-distance aerial shots in which the subject was obscured by things like haze. The mountains he was photographing were more than 300 miles away, and he couldn’t see them with his own eyes. But his camera was sensitive enough! The photo was the first visual proof that our planet is, in fact, round.

December 3, 1992: The First Text Message to a Mobile Phone Is Sent

On the same day that Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” hit the charts as the #1 song in the US, and Home Alone 2 topped the box office, a young British engineer named Neil Papworth sent the world’s first SMS (Short Message Service).

Although the technology was conceived by Friedhelm Hillebrand and Bernard Ghillebaert of the GSM Corporation in 1984, the first SMS message was sent in December 1992 by Neil Papworth, a 22-year-old test engineer for Sema Group, who used a computer to text “Merry Christmas” over Vodafone’s GSM network in the UK where it was received by his boss using an Orbitel 901 handset.

He never imagined he’d make history. “For me, I was doing a day’s work and I just thought: ‘OK, if this thing works, what am I doing tomorrow?’” Papworth told CTV News.

“The person I sent it to, Richard Jarvis, he was at a Vodaphone Christmas party and what else are you going to send to someone at a Christmas party?” Papworth said. “I used to talk to my friends about what I do, and they’re like: ‘Text what?’ No one had a mobile phone back then.”.

The following year in 1993, Nokia’s GSM mobile phone series became the first to support consumer SMS texting. By 1995 network traffic totaled a mere 0.4 messages per GSM customer per month. That number eventually skyrocketed and in 2010 it’s estimated that 6.1 trillion SMS text messages were sent, which is an average of 193,000 SMS per second.

Today, billions of texts continue to be sent every day although mainstream text messaging has been trending towards applications such as Apple's iMessage, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Viber, WeChat and Line.

20 Weird Japanese Inventions That We Definitely Need

Japan, the land of the rising sun, is world-reknowned for its technological prowess. It’s no secret that Japanese always try to come up with some new gadgets and devices that would make our life easier (or more difficult). They have some of the most advanced robotics in the whole world, and are reknowned for their public transportation capabilities.

While these are useful and important technologies, Japanese inventors often take things in weird directions, creating things either extremely specific or extremely wacky.

Below is a collection of some of ingenious Japanese inventions from the end of the past millennium that never became quite popular.

1. Special Cost-Effective 360-Degree Panoramic Camera

Speaking of ridiculous head accoutrements, here is another one to consider. Taking panoramic shots that stitch together well was one of the perennial problems of photography. But thanks to one ingenious Japanese individual, it isn’t anymore, or so he thought.

Anything this camera purports to be able to do, like shoot panoramic photos and/or interactive 360 photos, can now be done by any mobile phone running the relevant application. But until one can stick a mobile phone to his head in the name of fashion, this 360 halo camera has a slight edge as a fashion statement.

2. Useful 10-in-1 Tool Kit for Gardening

A giant Swiss Army knife for any acolyte of Alan Titchmarsh. There’s a shovel, rake, pickaxe and trowel amongst other things. Gardeners complain about bad backs all the time – they’ll probably be rushed in to the ER with a slipped disc after this thing.

3. Ear Enhancer

Somethings should only be used for one thing. Bowls, for example. They should be used only to hold things in... not to enhance hearing in weird ways!

This Japanese invention is called the Ear Enhancer. It was made with what looks like bowls to enhance your range and accuracy of hearing. To many, it has actually worked and doesn’t seem like much at all.

4. Rain Water Collection Device

Those unfortunate enough to live in areas that have limited access to water will appreciate this one. It is an upside down umbrella; the purpose of which is to collect rain water. It is hooked up to a bag that’s designed to hold the collected water.

It’s a somewhat good idea. Except for the possibility that consuming the water collected might be less than hygienic, considering the many pollutants that might have drifted along with it. Also, bottled water would be galactically more convenient than having to lug around a bag of rain water.

5. Shoe Protectors for Rain

Some people love their shoes so much that they will do anything to protect them. This has spawned a whole market of shoe protective novelties like plastic bags that can wrap around the shoe and the like. This novelty below was designed for the same purpose.

One would be wrong in thinking, however, that those mini umbrellas can be hooked up to just any shoe; as it happens, they come with this pair, and are affixed to it. It's a fashion statement and not a solution to anything. So it doesn't really solve the problem that a good pair of boots can.

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Life-Sized and See-Through Body Display in Cairo, Egypt, 1954

During the Cold War, East and West Germany competed against each other with espionage – and exhibitions. To win the favor of politically important Egypt, for example, each country staged industrial expos in Cairo.

At a 1954 exhibition shown here, East Germany showcased products ranging from porcelain to streetcars. The biggest draw, however, was the life-sized, see-through body display. Its transparent, illuminated body showed bones, veins, organs, and arteries in optimum working condition, suggesting the inherent superiority of the communist country’s standards of health and fitness.

Some Goofy Inventions by Russell E. Oakes From the Late 1930s

Russell E. Oakes, a Waukesha, Wisconsin, advertising man, is the Thomas A. Edison of goofy gadgets. In his spare time, he came up with more than fifty screwball innovations, like a doughnut dunker, a horizonal toast-popper and a wind-up spaghetti fork.

Since demonstrating this hilarious ‘hydraulic lighter’, Oakes has been in wide demand as an entertainer. Apparently, at the time, Oakes was something of a national sensation. About 70 years later, his inventions still have a certain absurd appeal.

Crazy? Of course, the inventions are absurd. But they are bringing laughter to thousands of persons and they are bringing fame to the man whose hobby is devising them.

A man eating soup with a mechanical soup spoon. The device is intended for dinner parties where the hostess serves inedible soup. The offending soup is drained through a hollow handle, via a tube hidden up the sleeve, into a bottle attached to the leg. Foul odours are blown away by the propeller. The innocent hostess believes the device is simply for cooling her delicious fare.

Here’s one way to cook your Thanksgiving turkey: The ‘Barbecue King’ infrared cooking unit, on show at the United States Trade Centre catering equipment exhibition in London.

American amateur inventor Russel E. Oakes demonstrates his doughnut dunker, which prevents doughnuts from dripping and wetting the diner's fingers, heaven forbid.

Oakes poses with his ‘pop at you’ toaster which ejects toast forcefully and horizontally.

A wind-up spaghetti fork in operation, devised by Oakes. The fork winds spaghetti strands making them easy to eat.

Oakes demonstrates his “sleeve protector” which covers a slab of butter to prevent him accidentally touching it as he leans across a table.

The First Air-to-Air Refueling, Long Beach, California, November 12, 1921

Aerial refueling allows aircraft engines to receive fuel while in flight and today is common for many large air forces. It is the equivalent of refueling your car by connecting it to a tanker truck while driving down the highway at high speed.

In 1917, a pilot in the Imperial Russian Navy, Alexander P. de Seversky, proposed increasing the range of combat aircraft by refueling them in flight. De Seversky soon emigrated to the United States and became an engineer in the War Department. He applied for and received the first patent for air-to-air refueling in 1921.

The first actual transfer of fuel from one aircraft to another was little more than a stunt. On November 12, 1921, wingwalker Wesley May climbed from a Lincoln Standard to a Curtiss JN-4 airplane with a can of fuel strapped to his back. When he reached the JN-4, he poured the fuel into its gas tank. Needless to say, this was not the most practical way of refueling an airplane in flight.

Wesley May can be seen climbing from the Lincoln Standard (lower left) to the Curtiss Jenny (upper right) — the rectangular fuel can can be seen strapped to his back as he dangles from the bottom of the Jenny’s lower left wing. (Photo credit: Peter M. Bowers Collection, Seattle Museum of Flight)

In 1923, the U.S. Army undertook tests at Rockwell Field, San Diego, California, to test a more practical way to lower a hose from one airplane to refuel another in flight. In its tests, a DH-4B biplane outfitted as a tanker and equipped with a 50-foot (15-meter) length of hose and a quick-acting shutoff valve would fly above the receiver and lower the hose. The person in the rear seat of the receiver aircraft would grab the hose and connect it to the aircraft. If the hose became detached, the valve would immediately cut off the flow, preventing it from spraying fuel over the receiving aircraft and its pilot.

The first flight was made on April 20, 1923. The aircraft remained attached for 40 minutes but intentionally passed no fuel. The equipment was tested over the next several months with numerous fuel transfers. On June 27, the pilots made an attempt on the aircraft flying endurance record. By August 27, using this technique, one of the DH-4Bs established 14 world records with a flight lasting more than 37 hours.

Capt. Lowell Smith and Lt. John P. Richter receiving the first mid-air refueling on June 27, 1923. The DH-4B biplane remained aloft over the skies of Rockwell Field in San Diego, California, for 37 hours. (Photo credit: USAF)

This achievement prompted many private pilots to attempt aerial (or in-flight) refueling, primarily to establish long duration flying records. By June 1930, the record surpassed 553 hours in flight (requiring 223 refueling contacts). In July, the record was 647.5 hours in the Curtiss Robin monoplane Greater St. Louis early 27 days in the air. Pilots lived in the noisy, cramped, smelly confines of their airplanes for weeks at a time without ever touching the ground, occasionally climbing out on special scaffolding to service the engines in flight.

In-flight refueling of the aircraft Curtiss Robin.

Despite all this activity, the technology for aerial refueling had not advanced significantly and pilots still used the clumsy and dangerous dangling-hose method. In 1930, a Royal Air Force (RAF) squadron leader, Richard L.R. Atcherly, developed a safer and simpler method, called the looped hose method. In this method, the receiving aircraft trailed a long horizontal line with a grapnel at the end. The tanker trailed a weighted line and approached the receiver from behind and to one side. It then crossed to the other side, causing the two lines to cross and touch. The receiver aircraft then hauled in the lines and the hose from the tanker. The RAF continued to refine this system, including adding a drogue to the hose that created drag and assisted in unwheeling the hose in flight. (A drogue is a special type of parachute that, in this instance, was used to ensure that the hose trailed behind the airplane and did not flop around.)

From such humble beginnings, aerial refueling has become the key enabling factor of military air power.  Without it, the ability to hit targets anywhere in the world would be nearly impossible.  Another key benefit of aerial refueling is that fighter-bombers are able to take off with heavier loads and far less fuel, by then “tanking up” once at altitude.  This way, modern aircraft can take off with weapons loads that far exceed what was once possible.  Likewise, cargo aircraft can lift off with extraordinary loads and tank up while en route — for every pound of fuel that can be saved at take off, more cargo or weapons can be lifted off into the air.