June 23

1891: Wilhelm Weber, after whom the unit of magnetic flux is named, died. 1931: Aviators Wiley Post and Harold Gatty took off from New York on the first flight around the world in a single-engine plane. 1938: The Civil Aeronautics Authority (CAA, later the FAA) was established. 1960: The first solar powered, 2-way radio, coast-to-coast conversation was made by the U.S. Army Signal Corps, using 20-foot square panels consisting of 7,800 individual solar cells. 1961: An X-15 airplane became the first to exceed Mach 5, at Edwards AFB, CA. 1982: A record low temperature of -117 ºF was recorded at the South Pole. 1995: Dr. Jonas Salk, inventor of the polio vaccine, died. 1998: President Clinton called for U.N. sanctions against Iraq for WMDs reportedly found. 2008: Carl Eilers, the "Father of FM and TV Stereo," died.