November 4, 1909: The First Pig to Fly

The first historically recorded flight of a pig took place on at Leysdown in Kent (Great Britain) on November 4, 1909. With this flight, the aristocratic British aviator J.T.C. Moore-Brabazon, later the First Lord Brabazon of Tara, made porcine aviation a reality. He fixed a wicker basket to a wing strut of his personal French-built Voisin biplane and carefully strapped a pig into it. The basket had a hand written sign “I AM THE FIRST PIG TO FLY”. Then he took bemused pig for a flight of about 3.7 miles from Shellbeach, the Short Brothers airfield at Leysdown on the Isle of Sheppey.

Brabazon learned to fly in France at Issy-Les-Moulineaux near Paris. While there, he purchased and brought back to England a standard model Voisin aero plane in 1909. Once in England with his Voisin, he secured the second pilot license issued to a British subject on March 8, 1909 (the first was issued to Henry Farman, noted British aero plane pilot, designer and builder).

And then in May of 1909, Brabazon made a flight of 500 yards in his Voisin at Leysdown in Kent – officially recognized as the first flight by a British pilot in Britain. Once the operability of the Voisin was assured, Brabazon set a number of early flying records, including his personal ambition to prove that pigs really could fly. On October 30, Brabazon won the £1.000 prize offered by the Daily Mail for the first closed circuit of a mile in a British airplane. For this venture he purchased a Short Brothers N02 airplane fitted with a 60-horse-power Green aero engine.

Brabazon in his Voisin in which he made the first flight in Britain by a British pilot.

Brabazon went on to a distinguished and eccentric career in British sport and Government. After further flying exploits and keeping company with the Wright Brothers and Charles Rolls (of Rolls Royce fame), he was Minister of Transport, and later Minister of Aircraft Production under Winston Churchill, and eventually elevated to the House of Lords where he took a seat as Lord Brabazon of Tara.

After the war, Brabazon was given the job of planning for post-war civil aviation in Britain. He chaired a British Cabinet committee that oversaw the building of a prototype aircraft – the Bristol 167 Brabazon – the largest plane ever built in Britain. The 167 performed poorly in initial trials, and lost economical feasibility as more efficient designs were concurrently developed. It never went into production.

Bristol Brabazon

Afterward Brabazon, entered into private life and continued to distinguish himself as a racer of Belgian cars, an avid golfer, and, at the age of 70, he rode the fearsome Cresta bobsled run at St. Moritz.

Lord Brabazon of Tara died in 1964.

Then-and-Now Photos of New York City by Paul Sahner

NYC Grid is a website run by Paul Sahner that explores and documents New York neighborhoods, “street by street and block by block.” One of the awesome reoccurring features on the blog is the before-and-after section, which features pairs of photos showing identical locations but shot decades — or sometimes over a century — apart.

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Beautiful Marilyn Monroe Photoshoots by Frank Powolny in 1952

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Old Photos of Berlin After World War II

Berlin as the capital and cultural center of the German Reich was bombed very heavily. With over 45,000 tons of bombs in two weeks the city was almost completely destroyed. The irreplaceable architectural gems of the Schlüter, Knobelsdorf, Schadow and Schinkel were annihilated. Palaces, museums, churches, monuments and cultural sites fell victim to the bombs. Overall, Berlin was bombed 363 times by British, American and Russian aircraft. Here are some of photographs capture Berlin after World War II.

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Cigarettes Sent to France, 1915

Mrs. George Washington-Lopp (Clara Dolores Machain) sitting in front of a shipment of cigarettes and cigars she arranged to have shipped to soldiers fighting in World War I.

(via Library of Congress)

A Collection of 11 Interesting Vintage Photos of Midget Cars From Between the 1940s and 1960s

Small, economical cars have satisfied a niche of the auto market for decades. Here's a small collection of 11 vintage photos of midget cars from between the 1940s and the 1960s.

May 1945. Less than 24 hours after the arrival of British airborne troops, the Germ an army of occupation in Denmark was marching back to Germany. German troops on a midget tank retreat through the Town Hall Square in Copenhagen. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

22nd August 1946. A London policeman stops the traffic, including a pedal driven model bus. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

1955. A three wheeled “cabin” scooter manufactured by German aircraft engineers Messerschmitt & Co at factories in Regensburg. (Photo by Hans Enzwieser/BIPs/Getty Images)

1955. A German-made two-seater, three-wheeler car called the “Messerschmitt” or “Kabinenroller” parked on a London street. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

1955. Members of the public midget motor racing in 7ft Bantam racing cars known as “buzz-boxes”. Introduced by Southampton Speedway promoter Charles Knott, the Bantams are powered by a 190cc Villiers engine, and capable of speeds up to 45 mph. (Photo by Harry Kerr/BIPs/Getty Images)

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Wonderful Photos of New York in 1957 by Brassaï

Brassaï (9 September 1899 — 8 July 1984) was a Hungarian photographer, sculptor, and filmmaker who rose to international fame in France in the 20th century. He was one of the numerous Hungarian artists who flourished in Paris beginning between the World Wars.

A rare discovery of more than 150 previously unpublished photographs in black and white and in color, from a legendary photographer. Despite strong personal and professional ties in the U.S.--Henry Miller, Harper’s Bazaar’s Carmel Snow, and Edward Steichen, who featured Brassai's work in many MoMA exhibitions--Brassai remained reticent about travel to the U.S. until 1957 when Holiday magazine offered generous compensation (and artistic freedom) to photograph New York and Louisiana.

From the first symbolic image of this voyage--the Statue of Liberty appearing over the ship's prow--Brassai came under the spell of America and his photographs innately captured his new perspective. In New York, he was captivated by the graphic skyscrapers and the rhythmic to-ing and fro-ing of the crowds. Unlike his static photographs of Paris--posing prostitutes, embracing lovers, sleeping street people--here he captured sequences of movement--children playing, fashionable women parading by, or the effects of light filtering through the urban architecture.

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