World War II Archives – Page 12 of 61

October 26 in U.S. military history

1909: U.S. Army Lt. (future brig. gen.) Frederick Erastus Humphreys becomes the first Army aviator to solo in a heavier-than-air

1812: The frigate USS United States under the command of Capt. (future commodore) Stephen Decatur — hero of Tripoli and

1742: After disease and poor management leads to the deaths of all but 600 of the 3,500-man 61st Regiment of

1864: In Westport, Mo. (present-day Kansas City), Maj. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis’ 22,000-man Army of the Border defeats a heavily

1922: Lt. Harold R. Harris (Army Air Service) performs the world’s first emergency parachute jump when the wings of his