On July 17th,

1933, Lithuanian research aircraft Lituanica disappears mysteriously after a successful crossing of the Atlantic.

1944, napalm incendiary bombs are used for the first time in war, dropped by American P-38 fighters on a fuel depot in France.

1975, an American Apollo capsule links up to a Russian Soyuz capsule in orbit, marking the first space collaboration between the two nations. It would also be the last Apollo mission, as well as the last manned mission for six years until the launch of the first Space Shuttle in 1981.

1989, the first flight of the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber takes place.

1996, TWA flight 800, a Boeing 747-100 enroute to Paris, explodes and plummets into the Atlantic off the coast of Long Island shortly after takeoff from JFK Airport.

2007: TAM flight 3054, an Airbus A320, crashes while landing at Sao Paolo, Brazil.