March 16, 1926: Robert Goddard launches the 1st liquid-fueled rocket, at Auburn, Massachusetts, outside Worcester, and 45 miles southwest of Boston.
Robert Hutchings Goddard was born on October 5, 1882 in Worcester, where he went on to teach at Clark University. Two of his 214 patented inventions, a multi-stage rocket and a liquid-fuel rocket, both patented in 1914, were important milestones toward spaceflight. His 1919 monograph A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes is considered one of the classic texts of 20th Century rocket science. He successfully pioneered modern methods such as two-axis control -- gyroscopes and steerable thrust -- to allow rockets to control their flight effectively.
Goddard launched the world's first liquid-fueled (gasoline and liquid oxygen) rocket on March 16, 1926, in Auburn. Present at the launch were his wife, Esther; his crew chief, Henry Sachs; and Percy Roope, who was Clark's assistant professor in the physics department. Goddard's diary entry of the event was notable for its understatement:
His diary entry the next day elaborated:
The rocket, which was later dubbed "Nell", rose just 41 feet during a 2.5-second flight that ended 184 feet away in a cabbage field. But it was an important demonstration that liquid fuels and oxidizers were possible propellants for larger rockets. The launch site, at 17 Saybrook Way, is now a National Historic Landmark, the Goddard Rocket Launching Site.
He and his team launched 34 rockets between 1926 and 1941, achieving altitudes as high as 1.6 miles, and speeds as fast as 550 miles per hour -- about three-quarters of the way to the sound barrier. His work as both theorist and engineer anticipated many of the developments that would make spaceflight possible. He has been called the man who ushered in the Space Age.
But in his lifetime, he received little public or financial support for his research and development work. He was a shy person, and rocket research was not considered a suitable pursuit for a physics professor. The press and other scientists ridiculed his theories of spaceflight. As a result, he became protective of his privacy and his work. He died on August 10, 1945, at the age of 62.
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, in the Washington suburb of Greenbelt, Maryland, was named in his memory in 1959. He was also inducted into the International Aerospace Hall of Fame and the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1966, and the International Space Hall of Fame in 1976.
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March 16, 1926 was a Tuesday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. Professional basketball barely existed. Three games were played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs:
* In the NHL, the Montreal Canadiens beat the Toronto St. Patricks, 6-1 at the Mount Royal Arena in Montreal.
* Also in the NHL, the Boston Bruins beat the Montreal Maroons, 1-0 at the Boston Arena (later renamed the Matthews Arena).
* And in the Western Hockey League, the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Victoria Cougars, beat the Saskatoon Sheiks, 1-0 at the Patrick Arena in Victoria, British Columbia.
The Maroons went on to win the NHL title, and then take the Cup from the WHL Champion Cougars. After that season, the WHL folded, making an expansion of the NHL possible. Most of the Victoria Cougars joined a new team, becoming the Detroit Cougars, renamed the Falcons in 1930 and the Red Wings in 1932. The Portland Rosebuds essentially become the Chicago Black Hawks. And the cream of the remaining teams were purchased to become the initial New York Rangers.
The Toronto St. Patricks became the Maple Leafs in 1927, and the Maroons folded in 1938.
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