65 years ago today, at 10:24 a.m. on October 14, 1947, Charles Yeager became the first man to break the sound barrier. He was part of a secret testing project in Southern California, where he was launched from a B-52 at 40,000 feet in a Bell X-1 experimental rocket nicknamed "Glamorous Glennis," after his wife. Since he was practically flying a bullet with wings and a rocket attached to it, he very quickly hit Mach 1 for the first time in human history.
This is pretty much universally considered a good thing. It represents another engineering and technological milestone in human history. Supersonic flight revolutionized aerial combat in the upcoming years and in the Korean and Vietnam Wars, and was one of the innovations that enabled the existence of the space program (since a rocket needs to break Mach 5 to get out of the atmosphere). Without Yeager and the Bell X-1, we might not have ever set foot on the moon. It also appeared at one point to have revolutionized passenger transport, until the Concorde airliner program was shut down due to safety issues (one blew up on the runway, and it was found that passengers were getting minor radiation poisoning in-flight. Don't ask).
I much appreciate this event. It effects our lives in ways you wouldn't even think of. Without supersonic flight, we wouldn't be able to go into space, which would mean no satellites. Think of all the technology we wouldn't have without satellites. Also, it's just sort of a human pride thing, like landing on the moon was. One of it's main points is that it let us say "Yeeeaaahhhh, look what we can do! Go humanity!"
One last thing that's not as relevant but I thought was cool. Today, for the 65th anniversary, Brig. Gen. Chuck Yeager (somehow that geezer is still alive) reenacted that historic flight over the Mojave Desert in an F-15. He had to be assisted by Capt. David Vincent, but hey, cut him some slack. 89-year-olds aren't supposed to experience serious G's.
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