August 1, 1939: Flight Tests of B-17 Flying Fortress

Tuesday1 August 1939

Y1B-17A on 1 August 1939 - the future B-17 Flying Fortress.

This seemingly uneventful day of 1 August 1939 had several seminal events occur which were clear portents for the future for anyone with a little imagination.

Holocaust: In another petty and almost pointless act of repression, on Tuesday 1 August 1939 Hitler's Germany prohibits the sale of lottery tickets to Jews.

USAAC: Captains Clarence S. Irvine and Pearl H. Robey, United States Army Air Corps (USAAC), fly the Boeing Y1B-17A Flying Fortress (Model 299F) prototype, serial number 37-369. They set a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Record for Altitude with a 5,000 Kilogram Payload. The bomber climbs to 34,025.59 feet with a payload of 11,023.11 pounds. On the same day, they also fly the Y1B-17 from Dayton, Ohio to St. Jacob, Illinois, setting an FAI World Record for Speed Over 1,000 Kilometers with a 5,000 Kilogram Payload, averaging 417.46 kilometers per hour (259.398 miles per hour).

The Y1B-17A is re-designated the B-17A Flying Fortress after completion of engine tests.



American Homefront: Glenn Miller and his band record "In the Mood." It becomes a No. 1 hit for 13 weeks the following year and remains one of the best-remembered songs of the big band era. It is inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1983.

German Homefront: The 6th Grosse Deutsche Funk- und Fernseh-Ausstellung (Greater Germany Radio and Television Exhibition) is held in Berlin. The Einheit-Fernseh-Empfänger E1 (Unitary-TV-receiver E1), also called Volksfernseher (People's TV), is demonstrated. It is a 441-line, 50 interlaced frames per second television set. The physical display size is 7.68" × 8.86." Early color television also is shown. The sets could function as radios, too. There are plans to mass-produce the E1.

Future History: Actor Terry Kiser is born in Omaha, Nebraska. He becomes famous almost exactly 50 years later for playing the title character in "Weekend at Bernie's."

Pre-War

8-9 November 1923: Beer Hall Putsch

December 20, 1924: Hitler Leaves Prison

September 18, 1931: Geli Raubal Commits Suicide

November 8, 1932: Roosevelt is Elected

30 January 1933: Hitler Takes Office
February 27, 1933: Reichstag Fire
March 23, 1933: The Enabling Act

June 20, 1934: Hitler Plans the Night of the Long Knives
June 30, 1934: Night of the Long Knives

August 1, 1936: Opening of the Berlin Olympics

September 30, 1938: The Munich Agreement
November 9, 1938: Kristallnacht

August 1, 1939: Flight Tests of B-17 Flying Fortress
August 2, 1939: Einstein and the Atom Bomb
August 7, 1939: Goering Tries to Broker Peace
August 14, 1939: Hitler Decides To Attack Poland
August 15, 1939: U-Boats Put To Sea
August 16, 1939: Incident at Danzig
August 20, 1939: Battle of Khalkhin Gol
August 22, 1939: Hitler Tips His Hand
August 23, 1939: Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact
August 25, 1939: Hitler Postpones Invasion of Poland
August 27, 1939: First Jet Flight
August 31, 1939: The Gleiwitz Operation

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