On this date in 1924 the first circumnavigation of the Earth by air was completed. Here are 10 notable circumnavigations of the planet:
The one which happened on this date in 1924 was achieved by two US Army Douglas DWC amphibians from Seattle to Seattle with 57 stops in 175 days. The flight was made in 57 hops, each one averaging 483 miles. The actual flying time was 351 hours.
The first circumnavigation by anyone ever (at least since records began) was the Magellan Expedition which took place between 1519 and 1522 in the ship Victoria. Of the 270 crew members who set out from Seville, only 18 were still with the expedition at the end. Magellan himself didn’t survive the trip.
The first circumnavigation in which the captain made it back was completed in 1580, by Sir Francis Drake. He’d been commissioned to carry out the voyage by Elizabeth I.
Jeanne Baret, a member of Louis Antoine de Bougainville's expedition on the ships La Boudeuse and Étoile in 1766–1769, is credited as being the first woman to circumnavigate the globe.
The first underwater circumnavigation took place in 1960. The American nuclear-powered Submarine USS Triton circumnavigated the globe in 60 days, 21 hours for Operation Sandblast.
The first lighter-than-air aircraft of any type to circumnavigate under its own power was the rigid airship LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin, which did so in 1929.
In 2012, PlanetSolar became the first ever solar electric vehicle to circumnavigate the globe.
In 1969, Robin Knox-Johnston became the first person to complete a single-handed non-stop nautical circumnavigation.
In 1999, Jesse Martin became the youngest recognised person to complete an unassisted, non-stop, nautical circumnavigation, at the age of 18.
People have both bicycled and run around the world, but it’s necessary to cheat a little in order to cross the oceans. David Kunst was the first person Guinness verified as having walked around the world between 20 June 1970 and 5 October 1974. He walked 23,250 km (14,450 miles) through four continents. There’s a sad story attached to that one. He set out with his brother, John, but they were attacked by bandits as they walked and John was killed. David continued and was joined by another brother, Peter, who finished the walk with him.
Beta
(Combat Team Series #2)
Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?
Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.
Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream.
Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.
Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.
Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.
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