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In 1886, Glenn L. Martin is born. He’s possibly the biggest aviation hero that you’ve never heard of. 🙂 He is the “Martin” in Lockheed Martin. He designed America’s first twin-engine bomber. William Boeing was one of his students! His first company merged with one of the Wright Brothers’ enterprises. All of this from a man who began life as a boy, cutting up his mother’s bedsheets so he could make kites and sails. Entrepreneurs will use anything that they can get a hold of sometimes, won’t they?! A few stories are often told about Martin. The first involves one of Martin’s early attempts to fly a plane that he’ built himself. He’d been spurred to give it a try when he read of the Wright Brothers’ famous flight at Kitty Hawk. If they could do it, then he could, too. Everything was going okay at first. On its first attempt, the plane bumped across the field a bit before stalling. Undeterred, Martin jumped out to give the propeller a spin. Big mistake! The engine gave a sudden start and the plane began hurtling down the field—even though no one was at the controls. Instead, the plane launched over Martin’s head, nicking his hat and finally crashing in a heap. Martin wasn’t one to be stopped by a little thing like getting hit in the head by a plane, of course. The story continues here: https://www.taraross.com/post/tdih-glenn-martin #TDIH #OTD #History #USHistory #liberty #freedom #ShareTheHistory