Milestones

DIED

Lots of little boys love fighter planes. But New York City--born Donald Lopez became so obsessed after watching the Oscar-winning 1927 silent film Wings that he took his first plane ride--in an open cockpit--at age 7. He went on to become a U.S. Air Force test pilot and World War II ace, part of the team that was the successor to the storied Flying Tigers fighters. Later, as a director of the Smithsonian, Lopez collaborated with Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins to plan and build the National Air and Space Museum. He was 84.

Music fans knew him as Hurricane...

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